Mixing Sands
by lemonade
Summary: Pricess Jayde, First Princess of Agrabah, returns from her travels to meet a charming sorcerer Mozenrath.
1. Chapter 1

It was midday and the sun beat down on Agrabah. Not far away the weather was no better and it was windy to boot. The desert sands whirled around the solitary figure as she struggled to get her lazy camel to keep moving.  
"Grrr! Durnit, go faster." She pestered. "Move! No, not that way, the other way."  
The figure was Princess Jayde of Agrabah, a very impatient princess who didn't need the crap the camel was giving her. Also, a very entempered princess who was likely to kick the crap out of the camel if the argument had to continue. "I don't care if you're union, you stupid camel! You can still go... what the?"  
A stranger in the distance attracted Jayde's attention and she felt a strange vibe from the person. Something... important. Being the only member of the royal family, as yet, with magic, Jayde often got these strange vibes but she couldn't decipher the meaning out of this one. It was like she had known the person before. The person, who was struggling through the dunes, looked in need of her help, or she liked to think so, and as Jayde had a habit of interrupting in other people business she rode over. As her and the camel, his name was Andri, got nearer, Jayde was able to get a better look at the person. For starters, it was a guy, and exactly the kind of guy Jayde liked though she wouldn't admit it. Tall, dark haired and cute, but with a certain oddness that only made him all the more attractive. Jayde barely managed to keep her eyes inside her head and she called over to him, from a distance of fifty metres. "Hey? Are you alright?"  
The amazingly cute guy waited a minute, thinking to himself before he called back. "Yeah, I'm just looking for something!"  
"Do you need a hand?" Jayde asked, coming a bit closer. "I could help you look." This was Jayde's not so suttle way of saying she wasn't going anywhere. The guy paused again before replying. "No, I'm fine thankyou. Hey, I found it!" The guy pulled a gauntlet from the sand and Jayde saw a flash of something white before the guy hurriedly put the gauntlet on, the sand still running in streams off of it.   
Even though the guy didn't seem to need her help, Jayde decided to stay for a while and get to know him. After all, he was cute and she was desperate. She jumped off her camel and immediately tripped over and caught a mouthful of sand. Getting up and hoping the stranger had not taken much notice of her embarrasing nosedive, she asked her first question.   
"What's so important about a single gauntlet, anyway? You can just buy a new set at the Agrabah markets. They're really cheap. Why, I've seen some...."  
"You can't buy one like this." The guy answered, but didn't take his eyes off the gauntlet, as if to make sure he wouldn't lose it again. "And if you could buy one like this, or a set, it would definitely not be cheap."  
Jayde, bored of the conversation which wasn't making much of a first meeting, held out her hand for to help the stranger up with. The guy gratefully accepted the hand, and as he stood he finally glanced at his helper. He visibly did a double take. Jayde pretended not to notice this, as it was much the same as how she had looked when she got her first look at him.  
"So, uh..." Jayde started. "Do you need a lift anywhere?" Jayde couldn't see a horse, camel, donkey or and other mode of transportation around and she was eager to get to know this person better, seeing that he noticed her as well. "Sure, I could use a lift." He replied. "But you have only one camel."  
"Oh, that." Said Jayde, and she magically zapped Andri into a buggy attached to a clydesdale cart horse. "Is that better? Because if it's not I can always change it."  
"Not much." Replied the stranger, trying not to look impressed. Trying very very hard not to look impressed. "Will that thing be able to get through the sand?"  
"It's magic." Jayde said simply.  
"Well I realized it was made by magic... but wow, I've never seen such a large amount of creation magic used so easily."  
"Don't ask me." Said Jayde. "I don't know how it works. I've just always been able to do it."  
"Oh..." Replied the stranger, trying to regain his composure.  
Jayde obviously hadn't answered the question very well but she was interrupted from further explanation of the god-like powers by a strange flying eel that came streaking to the guy's side.  
"Master safe?" Questioned the eel in very broken English.  
"Yes Xerxes." He replied. "This nice young lady has kindly offered to give us a ride home." Replied the guy, who seemed to understand the eel's broken English without difficulty.  
The eel turned to Jayde, noticing her for the first time and he looked her up and down.  
"Nice... lady..?" The eel Xerxes said, looking funny and confused which prompted Jayde to smile and laugh. He really did look comic. Xerxes broke into a grin and, swimming over, he greeted Jayde, "Hello nice lady."  
"Hello... Xerxes, is it?" Jayde could only reply. "But you can call me Jayde." "All dat? More?" Asked Xerxes. "Name... more name?"  
This haphazard explanation of what Xerxes was trying to say did it's job. "Well, I am commonly known in other places as Jayde the Traveller, but I like to keep it short. Just Jayde."  
"The traveller? Not much of a title..." Commented the guy, who now spoke again. "Well now that you're introduced to Xerxes, I am Mozenrath, Lord of the Land of The Black Sands, Sorceror and general all-round bad guy."  
He smile as if this was a good thing.  
"Um... yes." Jayde was dumbfounded. He couldn't be the one her sister warned her about. It was a good thing she only told him the her title as traveller.  
Jayde however decided that it couldn't hurt to be nice and polite.   
"Nice to meet you, Mozenrath." She said, holding out her hand to shake, as was common practice amongst her folk, the travellers. Mozenrath took her hand, but instead of shaking it he suprised her by kissing her hand lightly and he bowed.  
"Nice also, to meet you." Mozenrath replied. "...Jayde."  
The name seemed familiar to Mozenrath but he couldn't quite pinpoint the familiarity... a folk tale or something.  
Jayde leapt into the buggy and helped Mozenrath in after her. Unfortunately there was only enough room for two people and Jayde didn't see how he could sit anyway, so Xerxes has to occupy the saddlebox at the back of the buggy.  
"So where are you from?" Mozenrath asked, obviously as eager to get to know Jayde as Jayde had been a while ago. Since Jayde has a penchant for mystery she decided definitely not to tell where she was from just yet. If Mozenrath found out...  
"Everywhere and anywhere." Jayde answered, or didn't answer, depending on how you look at it, and she made a sweeping hand gesture to the horizon. "I am a traveller, a nomad... I've visited nearly every country in the world and made all of them my home."  
"But where were you from to begin with?" Mozenrath persisted. "Where were you born?"  
"It's been so long that I don't remember."  
"Nonsense."  
"Well most recently I have come from Indonesia, if that helps."  
"Indo-what?"  
"It's a group of islands very far away from here, in the tropics." Said Jayde. "I stayed there about a year, but you won't have heard of Indonesia I guess." "You're right. I haven't." Replied Mozenrath. "Was it nice there?"  
"Well it was very hot and humid but there was alot of fresh fruit and much more water than you would find in the desert around here."  
Suddenly their buggy hit a rock and threw them in all directions.  
Jayde found herself pressed against Mozenrath, their facies millimeters apart.   
She moved quickly back to her side of the buggy, and blushed red with embarrassment. "Um..." Said Mozenrath, uncomfortably. He had kind of enjoyed the accident, although he did not understand quite why he was so taken with this... Jayde. "So where are you from?" Jayde prompted, eager to change the subject.   
"Where were you born?"  
"My citadel in the Land of the Black Sands." Replied Mozenrath. "I was born there too."   
"And there were more people there then, as well." Mozenrath though to himself, but he did not voice his thoughts out loud.  
"How do we get there?" Jayde asked a very relevant question as she had no idea where to lead the buggy, she had just been continuing towards Agrabah. Without saying a word Mozenrath reached out with his gauntleted hand and pointed it in front of them. A bolt of black lightning shot from the gauntlet and a portal opened in front of the buggy, with black magic flickering at its sides. "Through there." Mozenrath said, once more tring to impress Jayde.  
Jayde now realized why he couldn't simply have replaced the gauntlet at the Agrabah markets. It was obviously a magical artifact. She prompted the horse towards the portal but the clydesdale shied away from it.   
"C'mon, Go through!" Jayde exclaimed, but to no avail. She most certainly did not have a way with horses. Jayde stopped the horse and took her from the front, by the reins and had to lead her through. Jayde looked back at Mozenrath, who looked drained so she hurried through the portal to relieve him of the responsibility of holding the portal open.   
Once through Jayde looked around her, at the rolling black dunes that circled for as far as the eye could see.  
"WHOAH....." She cried in awe, although the size of the place silenced her also. "Its... Big" That's all she could say about this land. With rolling black desert dunes and a starless black sky one would wonder where the light to see by came from. Black on black it was, a decorators nightmare.  
Jayde returned to the buggy, stepping over a crumpled Mozenrath who looked signifigantly pained as she passed. Gripping the reins in an effort to disperse all this awe she started the horse. Setting the clydesdale into a gallop she could now concentrate on other things.   
"Nice place" Jayde complimented. Which way do we go?"  
"Yeah, it is nice. Takes a while to get used to though" Mozenrath replied, looking up. "It doesn't matter which way you go. You always end up at my citadel."  
"Very useful."  
Xerxes appeared just then from the side of the buggy and startled Jayde, who practically jumped into Mozenraths arms.  
"Are there yet?" Asked Xerxes.  
"Uh... Nearly" Jayde said, slowly recovering from her near heart attack.  
"Don't worry, he wont bite" said Mozenrath as Xerxes slithered away in the opposite direction, obviously confused by his masters new interest.  
"I know that because..?" Jayde replied.  
"I give you my word.., Now please get off me"  
"And if I dont?" Jayde asked, feeling indignant.  
"Well, then I wont be responsible for my actions" Mozenrath said with a cheeky smile.  
"Hey, is that your citadel?" Jayde cried, jumping up as she saw buildings in the distance.  
"Yeah, Big eh?"  
"Yeah"  
"Um..."  
"Ahhh... Loss of things to say"  
Jayde glanced at her watch and nearly had another heart attack.  
"Shit, it's LATE!"  
"Whats that...?" Asked Mozenrath when he saw Jayde's wristwatch.  
She quickly took it off and shoved it in the backpack which she had just zapped into existence. People were not supposed to see that for a couple of hundred years yet. "Hey? You mind if I crash for the night at your citadel?" Jayde asked, both because she needed a place to stay and because she needed to divert the mortals attention from the watch he had just seen.   
"Sure stay a week, a month,..... a year if you dont mind the mamluks." He answered quickly.  
"Very kind of you but I could hardly stay a week. I have some business in Agrabah... REALLY important, that."  
"What business would that be?"  
Jayde yawned, "Man, I'm tired. Where can I sleep?"  
Jayde zapped the horse and buggy out of existence and Mozenrath and Jayde entered Mozenrath's palace.   
"Just a few hundred meters to the sleeping quarters" He said, joking, as he led Jayde up the stairs, down a hall and into a VERY large and comfortable room. Jayde threw her arms into the air in exclamation and turned to look at the whole room, "Are all your guest rooms like this?" She asked with enthusiasm in her voice.  
"No", He replied, "This is my room."  
"Oh"  
Jayde zapped a cot into one corner of the room. Seconds later Mozenrath promptly zapped it back out of existence. He patted the bed which he was now sitting on, gesturing for Jayde to sleep in HIS bed.   
"You're giving up your bed for me?" Jayde was awed by this generosity, Mozenrath didn't look THAT nice and kind and he was certainly differing from little sister's description.  
"Well that cot didn't look very comfortable", He replied, "Besides, I'm not giving up my bed."  
"..." Jayde was SPEECHLESS.  
"I'll be back in a minute" Mozenrath called as he left the room.  
"..." Jayde thought as she zapped into her nightgown. "Oh well, he IS cute, I just hope he doesnt expect anything or I may have to get murderous."  
Jayde pulled back the covers and was asleep before her head hit the masses of pillows stacked on the bed. 


	2. Chapter 2

Jayde woke up to find Mozenrath sleeping soundly beside her and she guessed he didn't expect anything. Too comfortable to move, Jayde lay there. She thought about her father, and realized she now only had ten days left until... She turned over and look at Mozenrath. Was she falling in love? She did not think this possible, he was a sorceror. No, a dark sorceror, and she was... No it would not be good. She must find someone suitable and not him. But then, he didn't seem that evil. She decided to stay three days to decide, yes, definitely her best bet. Because... If this was love, she didn't want to miss out on it.  
Mozenrath was waking now.  
"Mmmph." Mozenrath mumbled, as, waking up, he got a mouthful of pillow. Jayde unsuccessfully tried not to giggle.  
"Hey, Who gave you pemission to laugh at me?"  
"You'd be surprised"  
"Whats that sposed to mean?"  
"Mmmm, Hungry - What's for breakfast?"  
"You didn't answer my question, again."  
"Where's the kitchen at, then?" Jayde called as she walked out of the room.  
"It's down the hall, up the stairs and to the left! Wait for me, I'll show you" He called, probably a bit frustrated.  
Jayde and Mozenrath walked down the hall, up the magnificent staircase and turned left and found themselves in a giant commercial kitchen.  
"What would you like?" Mozenrath asked.  
"You can cook?" Jayde asked, because this was suprising to her.  
"Yes, Why?"  
  
"You... Dont look like the type" "Yeah? Well come to think of it you dont look the type to be travelling in the desert on your own, picking up a sorceror, and staying the night at his citadel. Looks CAN be decieving."  
"Sorry"  
"So, What would you like?"  
"Mmmnnn.... Can't decide, What'v I got to choose from?"  
"Bacon & Eggs, French toast, pancakes, rice... You name it."  
"Ya have to make it hard for me, Ok, I'll have... french toast. Got any barbecue sauce?"  
"Yeah, You go set the table, It's in the next room, I'll cook"  
"Right"  
Jayde went into the next room and set the table, which, typical of a place dining table, was huge. She set two places next to each other of course, she wanted to see if he was.... well.... anything.  
In a flash, Mozenrath was out with the french toast. They sat down and Jayde noticed imediately that the food was exquisite.  
"You're a great cook" She told Mozenrath.  
"Oh, Anyone can zap food into existence"  
"Cheater! I thought you could really cook."  
"Well why should I tell you anyway? You havent told me anything about yourself."  
Jayde was beginning to feel uncomfortable, even though the sorceror had proved to be not as evil as reputed. She simply HAD to shut him up so she leant over and kissed him, full on the mouth since she wanted to anyway. She very quickly noticed that he was a good kisser.  
"Jayde?" Mozenrath asked, "What was that for?"  
"Why? Is there anything wrong?" Jade asked in reply.  
To answer, Mozenrath leant over and kissed Jayde again, which almost instantly made her think that maybe he was the one.  
"Lets finish breakfast, Ok?" Jayde said, her job of getting him off the subject off her personal details... done.  
"Alright" Mozenrath said as he looked both sarcastically and pathetically hurt. Mozenrath and Jayde finished breakfast and Jayde zapped the plates out of existence.  
"Hey, You mind if I stay three more days?" She asked, figuring there was not better time than the present.  
"Of course, I already said you could stay as long as you like"  
"Thanks. Say, What is there to do around this place anyway?"  
"You could read some magic books, I've got a bundle in the library or you could torment the mamluks or you could redecorate, yeesh this place needs a change, or you could relieve a lonely sorceror's utmost desires."  
Jayde supressed a laugh, she couldn't believe he would actually say that. "Hmmm... Reading magic books sounds fun but it's really not necessary though. Tormenting mamluks, now thats tempting but they're undead so they don't care. Redecorating, you were right. This place certainly needs it but trust me you would hate my decorating taste. Relieving a sorceror's utmost desires... what do you think?"  
"Well, I personally advise tormenting mamluks."  
"Screw that, Whats your utmost desire?"  
"For us to go back to my room..."  
"Well... Only if you do me a favour"  
"And what favour would that be?"  
"You will know when I tell you"  
"Alright"  
Jayde and Mozenrath, of course, then went back to his room.  
**************** 'Well that was good.' Jayde thought to herself. 'You just gave yourself to an evil sorceror. What would your father say? At least now he won't kill you when you tell him who you are.'  
Jayde rolled over and went back to sleep.  
  
****************   
Jayde was later awakened by a large crash sound. "Kaboom!"  
"What...The..." Jayde mumbled as she rolled out of bed.  
She winced as she hit the cold marble floor below. She quickly zapped herself some clothes.   
The crash came from the right. She exited the room and wandered down the hall. It abruptly ended at a staircase going down.  
'What the hey' Jayde figured as she walked down. 'Nothing can kill me, after all.' After what seemed like a decade the staircase ended at a door. Jayde entered and had to dive to avoid a bolt of lightning that shot through where she was previously standing.   
Jayde saw the source of the lightning... Mozenrath.   
"Sorry" He said, "I was testing a new spell".  
"Do you always try to kill someone after you've slept with them?" Jayde asked.  
"Well...No, I admit, Again I'm very sorry"  
" It's ok, Hey are those the spell books you were talking about?"  
"Yeah, My personal library. You're welcome to look through them if you like"  
"Thanks"  
Jayde choose a book labeled 'Healing, Cursing and Killing By Ali Alra' It looked interesting. She zapped a comfy chair into existence and settled down for a good read while Mozenrath continued work on the new spell. 


	3. Chapter 3

The book turned out to be far more boring than Jayde had expected, rather than magic, it was about the history of magic. Jayde decided instead to go and see what Mozenrath was doing. He had left his lab quite some time ago so Jayde magiced a compass that she has just zapped into existence, to find him. The compass led Jayde down a long dark corridor and into an equally long room. Jayde saw Mozenrath at the other end of the room so she zapped the compass away and raised herself an inch off the floor so that she could move without her footsteps making any noise. She tiptoed up behind Mozenrath, lowered herself to the ground and wrapped her arms around him.  
"Aur-argh!" Mozenrath yelled in suprise. "Don't do that... you nearly gave me a heart attack."  
"Lighten up, Moze." Said Jayde. "You need to relax more. I think you can trust me, you know."  
"Don't call me Moze. I hate that name." Said Mozenrath. "And while I may be able to trust you, I have many enemies. They would delight in creeping up behind me and strangling me."  
"Whatever." Jayde said. "So what are you doing?"  
"Making an amulet." Said Mozenrath. "A magical amulet."  
"Well of course it's magical. It's an amulet." Asked Jayde. "Why are you making an amulet?"  
"To give to you." Said Mozenrath. "For being such a nice person and coming to stay with me."  
"What does it do?" Asked Jayde. "Because if it turns me into a Mamluk, I don't want it."  
"It's a secret." Said Mozenrath. "And if I told you it would no long be a secret."  
"No secrets." Said Jayde.  
"You can talk." Said Mozenrath. "How many time have I asked you a question only to have you change the subject?"  
"I think will call in my favour now." Said Jayde. "Is that alright with you?"  
"OK." Said Mozenrath. "So what do you want? You want to know what the amulet does, right?"  
"Wrong."  
"What then?" Asked Mozenrath. "I would have thought that's what you would want, given the situation."  
"I am going to tell you who I am and where I am from." Said Jayde. "You must promise not to kill me and not to hold my identity against me."  
"It cant be that bad." Said Mozenrath. "I'm a dark sorceror and you don't hate me... I don't think."  
"Do you promise you won't kill me?" Continued Jayde. "And do you promise that you won't hold my identity against me or do anything nasty because of who I am?"  
"You didn't mention the doing nasty things part before." Said Mozenrath. "But of course. You know... I love you."  
"Me too" Said Jayde. "I love you too. I don't know how I know this so early but I love you."  
"Go on..." Promted Jayde. "I promise, now you can say who you are and stuff."  
"I am from Agrabah" said Jayde. "I am, though I haven't been there for a long time, from Agrabah."  
"Thats not bad." Said Mozenrath. "I was expecting something sinister or ground shaking."  
"I'm not finished." Said Jayde. "I'm from a very affluential part of Agrabah."  
"So you're a rich person from Agrabah." Said Mozenrath. "I'm not very popular with them at the moment."  
"I'm still not finished. A very affluential part of Agrabah known as the palace."  
"Ah nuts... It keeps on going and going, doesn't it."   
"I am Princess Jayde of Agrabah. Eldest daughter of the Sultan." Finished Jayde.  
"Oh..." Mozenrath trailed off. "That means... I can't hold you hostage now..."  
"Yes cheeky." Replied Jayde. "I am actually travelling home to claim the throne instead of my sister. So soon, although hopefully not too soon as I value the life of my father, soon I will be the Sultana of Agrabah."  
"You're THAT pricess of Agrabah? The one that massacred all those people and ran away?"  
"Don't believe everything you hear." Replied Jayde. "But yes, and you know our homelands are kind of at war..."  
"That means we will be enemies. We will be at war..." Said Mozenrath. "I'm going to have to surrender."  
"There is another solution." Said Jayde. "One that does not include the compulsory painful torture of yourself in the Agrabah dungeons as an obligatory condition of surrender."  
"Name it. It will be done... Anything to avoid the dungeon for five years." Said Mozenrath. "Because I would have to surrender so I wouldn't have to fight you."  
"Well." Began Jayde. "One of the conditions of my inheriting the throne is that..."  
"Yes...?" Said Mozenrath. "I'll do it, just name it."  
"I must marry before my sister, Jasmine."  
"You... want me to be your sultan?" Asked Mozenrath. "You want me to be the absolute ruler of Agrabah with you? Is that what you're implying?"  
"I would be honoured." Said Jayde. "And thanks for saying with you. Most suitors I have met consider ruling to be a one man job."  
"But that means I would have to live at the palace... With the street rat." Said Mozenrath. "Which would be less good than the torture, I think."  
"You would be one step closer to ruling the seven deserts." Tempted Jayde. "And we could have alot of fun as well."  
"And I would be with you..." Said Mozenrath. "But ruling the seven deserts would be fun so having fun does not count as an as well."  
"Yes, that's true. So I should have said and we could also have a lot of other fun as well." Said Jayde. "But I have two more conditions."  
"What would those be?" Said Mozenrath. "This sound too much like a business deal. I just want to get to know you and now we're engaged. A bit fast."  
"Condition number one: No tyranny." Said Jayde. "You may not eject any elected council from the city unless the people ask you to."  
"Awww." Said Mozenrath. "I wasn't going to do that anyway. I told you I just wanted to be with you."  
"And condition number two... I get to see what is under that gauntlet of yours." Said Jayde. "You didn't even take it off when..."  
"Do you have too?" Asked Mozenrath. "The gauntlet really doesn't ever come off."  
"Yes." replied Jayde. "I intend to marry the whole of you, possibly without the gauntlet."  
"No." Said Mozenrath. "That's really not nescessary."  
"I will have to see one day." Said Jayde. "Why not today."  
"No, you won't. I'll never make you see. Problem solved." Said Mozenrath. "See? Now I won't have to take off the gauntlet. Ever."  
"You are my fiance. You will please take the gauntlet off?" Asked Jayde. "Now!"  
"No." Said Mozenrath. "We agreed no tyranny but you're being a bit of a bully now."  
"No secrets remember." Said Jayde, but she smiled now and was more tender. "I told mine. Please?"  
"No...okay, Fine." Mozenrath finally gave in to his persistent fiance. "But only because you asked nicely."  
Mozenrath slipped the gauntlet off, revealing a hand of clean white bone.   
Jayde stared for a minute before she remembered a spell she had learned from a witch-doctor on one of her travels.  
"Give me the gauntlet, please." She requested. "I would like to have a look at it."  
"Why?" Asked Mozenrath. "What you see now is all it is."  
"Just do it, trust me." Said jayde. "Don't make this like taking it off was."  
Reluctantly, Mozenrath handed the gauntlet to Jayde and as soon as he let go of it she zapped it out of existence.  
"Hey! WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?!?" Mozenrath screamed atJayde. "I need that!"  
"Give me your hand." Jayde said, with a tone of authority.  
Mozenrath did as she asked. He didn't really have much choice anyway,   
probably noticed that at that point Jayde had started a very complicated spell and was already glowing from all the magic she was summoning.  
Jayde muttered some magic words as she held Mozenrath's hand, covering it with her magical glow. Jayde shut her eyes and a trance seemed to come over her, when she opened her eyes a moment later, Mozenrath could not see her pupils, her eyes were white only.  
She released his hand and pointed a finger at him with bolts lightning shooting out of her finger, covering Mozenrath.  
"What.... Augh... Are... You... Doing... To... Me?" Mozenrath yelled at Jayde, in between bursts of pain from the lightning bolts. Jayde seemed to wake from her trace and she called to him.  
"It's nearly over!" She called over the wind that was now screaming around the room. Slowly the last of the lightning drained from Jayde to Mozenrath and the wind died down. It took a few more seconds for the glow to subside before Jayde could clearly see Mozenrath crumpled on the floor in front of her.  
"Mozenrath." She said urgently, as she shook him awake. "That magic will have taken alot of energy from you but I still need you awake to see this and recognise it so the spell stays permanent."  
"What are you going to do to me now?" Mozenrath asked as Jayde kneeled beside him.  
"Nothing." Jayde replied as she helped him to sit up. "Look at your hand now."  
Mozenrath's gaze dropped from his assailant to his hand which had been previously previously skeletal but it was now covered with flesh and skin. It was a normal hand.  
"....." Moznerath was unable to say anything, his mouth opening and closing around silent words as he flexed his hand experimentaly.  
"It doesnt hurt." He whispered. "I haven't seen my hand like this for many years... and it doesn't hurt."  
Mozenrath looked at Jayde.  
"Thankyou." He said. "But how did you do it? No spell I know of can do that?"  
"You're welcome." Said Jayde. "All of your spell book were from around here, right? Because that spell was foreign. You wouldn't have been able to find it in any book, in any library withing a few thousand miles from here."  
"But what about the gauntlet?" Said Mozenrath. "Last time, when my hand was... not skeletal, the power of the gauntlet was alot greater. Now I could probably conquer the world like I missed out doing when I put the gauntlet on in the first place."  
"You cannot wear it now." Said Jayde. "I won't allow it."  
"But without it... I have no magic." Said Mozenrath. "I need magic."  
"Wrong." Said Jayde as she took his hand again. "Well, you do need magic I guess, but you can have magic without the gauntlet."  
This time a warm orange glow transferred from Jayde's hands to Mozenrath's hand and all he felt is a funny tingling in his fingertips.  
"Now try it." Said Jayde. "You may find that your hand works now as it did before, though your magical signiture be changed slightly."  
  
Mozenrath pointed his hand and, to test, he shot a bolt of orange light. "I am really speechless now." He said. "What did you do?"  
"I performed a healing spell on your hand then I charged your hand to perform like the gauntlet would."  
"A healing spell? So you have both creative magic and healing magic?" Said Mozenrath. "Most people I have heard of who are high in one magic field are pitifully weak to uselessness in all the others. Like I only had destructive magic."  
"Come, you must rest now." Jayde told Mozenrath. "There will be time to discuss magic potential later."  
Mozenrath tried to stand but fell back on his butt. He was too weak. "Sit down." Jayde told him. "I can handle this."  
Mozenrath obeyed and Jayde released a bolt of purple fire which made Mozernath rise from the ground. Jayde walked back to his room with Mozenrath floating behind.  
"This is demeaning." He muttered, but Jayde ignored him.  
Jayde set him down in his room and helped him into bed. It was not long before Mozenrath was asleep. Jayde, bored, decided to explore the citadel while Mozenrath slept. She had not seen any mamluks yet after all. 


	4. Chapter 4

Jayde walked down the halls but the citadel seemed endless and she couldn't get her bearings so she decided to find the entrance and work from there.   
Working her way back, to the right, down the hall and down the stairs, Jayde arrived back at the entrance in no time.  
Wondering where she would like to go from there, she zapped herself an enchanted map with locations listed.  
"Mamluk Quarters.  
Lab.  
Kitchen.  
Library.  
Sleeping Quarters.  
Dining Room.  
Dungeons.  
Stables.  
Developing Center." Jade read, and she decided that she wanted to go see the mamluks. Following the map, she went down the hall, to the left, up the spiral staircase, to the right, down the stairs and straight ahead. In front of her loomed a great door, wooden and with big brass handles. Jayde wondered what mamluks did for fun as she tentatively opened the door. She did not want to scare the mamluks.  
Jayde was very suprised to see the mamluks playing ping-ping when she stuck her head around the door, so much so that she fell forward and the door slammed shut behind her with a loud crash.  
Their ping-pong ball, a spare eye, bounced off of the table and rolled across the floor as all the mamluks froze.  
"Sorry." Said Jayde, before she remembered that these creatures were unthinking and were just standing to attention, not startled.  
Also remembering Mozenrath's advice about tormenting mamluks, Jayde gave an order. "Uhh... remove your heads."  
All the mamluks obeyed. Jayde was slightly amused by this, but not much as she had seen worse. "Lets see... put your head on the person next to you." All obeyed. "On the count of three... you will think you are a dog." Jayde laughed, it was hypnotism without the hypnotism and all the mamluks started barking and scratching themselves. Jayde pointed a finger at some mamluks and levitated them. The mamluks quarters was like a cathedral so Jayde was able to levitate the mamluks quite high. Suddenly Jayde was overcome by a curiosity to discover whether mamluks could fly. She knew than answer, no, but she just though it would be amusing, so Jayde released her magical hold on the mamluks and they all crashed down and crumbled everywhere.  
Interrupting Jayde, Xerxes flew in and scolded her. "No no no, not right." Xerxes said. "What doing?"  
"Being bored." Jayde replied as she turned a mamluk into a rabbit.  
"Those masters', don't break." persisited Xerxes. "Don't break slaves."   
"But Mozenrath said I could torment them." Jayde answered.  
"Stop, stop. Lady mussst stop." Wailed Xerxes. "No break slaves."  
"Oh alright, fine, you win." Conceded Jayde, and she magiced the crumbled mamluks back together and turned the rabbit back into a mamluk.   
"At ease, fellers." She called to the mamluks before turning back to Xerxes. "Are you happy now? I have nothing to do. Can you tell me what else there is to do in this place since I can't relieve my boredom by tormenting mamluks."  
"Xerxes show you." Xerxes replied. "Citadel no fun. Land is fun."  
"Oooookay, I didn't understand half of that but okay then, show me."  
"Lady come." Xerxes said, slithering out of the mamluks quarters and Jayde followed him. They left the citadel and Xerxes kept going for quite some time until they were as far away from the citadel as possible without travelling back to the citadel in the magic that Mozenrath had described to Jayde earlier.   
Xerxes stopped in the middle of the dunes.  
"Board and harness." Said Xerxes, turning to Jayde.  
"Ohh.... I get it." Replied Jayde. "Kind of like surfing... you're going to pull me. Are you sure you're strong enough?"  
When Jayde didn't get a reply she materialized a harness on Xerxes that she, Jayde, can hold on to and a snowboard to stand on, since that is the only thing she can think of close enough to Xerxes' description.  
Jayde clambered to the top of the dune and stood on the board while she held onto Xerxes' harness. Xerxes set off down the dune, pulling Jayde with him. Jayde laughed with delight. It was tremendously more fun than tormenting mamluks. Jayde sandsurfed for a few hours before remembering that Mozenrath was back at the citadel, probably awake and wondering where she was.   
"Xerxes! Back to the citadel." Jayde called, an order.  
"Yes, Lady." Xerxes replied.  
"Man, That is SO much fun! Does Mozenrath do this?" Jayde asked, because the sorceror seemed to preoccupied with other pursuits to spend much too much time having fun, no matter how much he had enjoyed spending the previous days buggy trip with Jayde.  
"Master much busy."  
"Oh, Well not for long!" Jayde called back.  
"What Lady mean?" Xerxes asked, confused.  
"Moze and I are getting married..." Jayde looked a little sad. "I know it's a bit fast but..."  
"No!, Master stay."  
"Why?"  
"Xerxes say."  
"Well sorry Xerxes. Mozenrath and you, if you want, are coming to Agrabah with me." Said Jayde indignantly  
"Why?"  
"Sigh, Because I'm Princess Jayde of Agrabah..."  
Xerxes now fell silent. As they entered the citadel he wriggled free of the harness and flew away, causing Jayde to topple on the cold marble.  
"Enemy of Black Sands!" Jayde could faintly hear as Xerxes retreated out of view.  
Jayde zapped her compass back and she could tell that she had guessed right. Mozenrath was awake. In fact, Mozenrath was back in the room near the lab. As Jayde could not remember the way she simply teleported there, landing inches from the floor so that once again Mozenrath would not know of her presence in ther room. Mozenrath was talking to himself.  
"Not just any magical amulet." Mozenrath said. "This amulet will..." Mozenrath's voice was drowned out by a magic stream of light from his hand, which sent sparks everywhere and made alot of noise, performing as a welder. "...but she will love it, I am certain."  
Jayde quietly teleported to the kitchens when Mozenrath finished his little speech. She realized now that it was time for dinner. As it was Jayde's turn to cook, she decided on tandoori chicken wraps, her favourite.  
Jayde was in a good mood so she set the table manually. She zapped four tandoori chicken wraps onto the serving dish and set it on the table. She zapped a vase of roses too. Red of course. At this point Mozenrath walked in. "So when do we leave?" He asked. "Just out of curiosity."  
"Well... Jas and Al are getting married in a week or so, so soon as possible."  
"Tomorrow?" Mozenrath asked.  
"Yeah, That will do." Jayde replied. "I'm ready to go at any rate. Xerxes seems seriously annoyed at me."  
"Ignore him." Moznerath replied. "Good, so we leave tomorrow."  
"Do you need anything packed?" Jayde asked.  
"Just a few things, out of my library, workshop and room." Said Mozenrath. "Some stuff too valuable to leave behind."  
"Hey!" Jayde interrupted as she could not see the conversation getting anywhere. "I cooked dinner, Eat up!"  
They ate dinner, which was marvelous because Jayde was a marvelous cook... well, food materializer, and Jayde decided to tend to her flock of pets after zapping the dishes away. Mozenrath went to practice his new magic and Jayde retrieved her bottomless backpack from where she left it in the bedroom. She opened the zip and set it on it's side on the floor. A flock of geese, two puppies, a kitten, a cat, a chicken, a kiwi, a kangaroo, a San Joaquin kit fox, a piglet, a baby velociraptor, a red fox, a baby elephant, a tribe of miniature horse people, a rabbit, a corella, a galah, an emu, a numbat, a tasmanian devil, a wombat, a tasmanian tiger, a donkey, a horse, a tiger cub, a spider monkey, an orang-utan, a lioness cub and a snow leopard paraded out. Jayde zapped up a giant bowl of bird seed, a tray of hay, a bowl of scraps, a few bowls of meat, a few bowls of cat food, dog food and other assorted foods. She also zapped a pond into the floor. What a menagerie filled Mozenrath's room now! About the only thing Jayde didn't have was a flying eel, as well as other non-cute animals. At this point Mozenrath walked in, obviously satisfied with his newfound powers.   
"My room!" He screamed. "What have you done to my room?"  
"Calm down Moze." Jayde told him. "I can fix it."  
"Okay, back in the pack!"  
Jayde's menagerie then paraded back into the bottomless backpack which was amazingly light considering the baby elephant. She then had to zap away the food bowls and the pond. The animals left no mess whatsoever.  
"What was that?" Asked Mozenrath once he had recovered from the shock and he sat down heavliy on his bed.  
"Just my pets." Replied Jayde. "I never go anywhere without them."  
"You certainly have a lot of them." Mozenrath said.  
"Yeah?" Jayde asked.  
"Yeah." Answered Mozenrath.  
"Not really." Argued Jayde.  
"Do you have names for all of them?"  
"Of course." Said Jayde. "There is Orange, Red, Black, Yellow, Green and Duck the geese, Joe the king charles spaniel and Rick the westie, Kumo the himalayan, Snow the siamese, Pex the chook, Dribble the kiwi, Eilish the roo, Nix the kit fox, Gytha the pig, Slaz the velociraptor, Vermillion the fox, Hajag the elephant, Grathawg, Dagbar, Leonie, Elias, Chaca and Tash the travelers companions, Hops the rabbit, Banjo the corella, Flew the galah, Cathy the emu, Triple the numbat, Nate the tasmanian devil, Imp the wombat, Vincent the thylacine, Don the donkey, Feigh the horse, Kezza the tiger, Fingers the spider monkey, Ganteng the orang-utan, Nastha the lioness and Stop the leopard." "Do you always have all of them out?"  
"No. I normally keep them in suspended animation with a spell but that's been acting up lately." Said Jayde. "And the geese, Pex, Dribble, Eilish, Hajag, Hops, Flew, Cathy, Triple, Nate, Imp, Don, Feigh, Fingers, Ganteng, Nastha and Stop belong to a friend of mine."  
"So that leaves..."  
"Joe, Rick, Kumo, Snow, Nix, Gytha, Slaz, Vermillion, Grathawg, Dagbar, Leonie, Elias, Chaca, Tash, Banjo, Vincent and Kezza"  
"You certainly have a lot of pets."  
"Yes, I guess." Conceded Jayde. "But Slaz, Grathawg, Dagbar, Elias, Leonie, Chaca and Tash are more like familiars, they talk so I am never lonely."  
"Wow, I'm going to bed." Said Mozenrath. "This has been one eventful day."  
"Okay, I'm going to return my friends pets."  
"Bye, love."  
"Bye..."  
Jayde zapped herself out of there and she was floating in a cloud far above the world.  
"Jayde!" A voice called. "I finished the ground, you can stand now if you like."  
"Krys!" Jayde called back. "But how did you know it was me?"  
"Who else would it be?" Replied Krys. "So how's the Sultana thing going?" "Great, I've actually found someone for the position." Said Jayde. "He's wonderful. A bit contraversial though."  
"Just the way you like them... So do you have a photo for me to see?"  
"Krys! You forget that we can't use cameras here, I already had a close call with my watch."  
"Oh... That's right. Have you got a magic crystal then?"  
"Always." Replied Jayde. "I see you've finished redecorating. Ease up on the cloud though, people do like to see."  
"Let us see that crystal, then." Krys said as she stepped into view. "And by the way, you're standing in a cloud bank."  
Krys led Jayde out of the cloud bank as Jayde fished a crystal out of her backpack and magiced it to show Mozenrath presently.  
"Where is the house?" Jayde asked as Krys examined the crystal. "Just down that path." Krys said. "Not bad. He's not bad at all, though not my type."  
"Great. He's not for you." Jayde said as she put away the crystal. "Let's go. Are Ty and Ann here at the moment?"  
"Yes, but they're busy as usual." Said Krys. "The zoo is next to the house, you can unpack the pets there."  
Jayde and Krys walked to the house and the zoo and Jayde set her backpack down but before she open it she instructed the backpack on who to let out.   
"Just Kris's pets now."   
Out paraded the geese, Pex, Dribble, Eilish, Hajag, Hops, Flew, Cathy, Triple, Nate, Don, Imp, Feigh, Fingers, Ganteng, Nastha and Stop.  
"I really have to go now. It's late but I promise I will visit again soon. Tell Ty and Ann I was here and give them the message Hi." Jayde said, all in one breath.  
"Okay. Bye then, See you later, I will be sure to do that and good luck!" Called Krys as Jayde zapped away.  
Once back in Mozenrath's room in the citadel, Jayde zapped into her nightgown and slipped quietly into bed beside Mozenrath. Looking at him, she wondered where her luck came from as she slowly fell asleep. 


	5. Chapter 5

Jayde was woken up in the morning to Mozenrath shaking her.  
"Wake up, Wake up." Mozenrath repeated. "It's time to go!"  
"Wha?" Jayde muttered as she tried to get up. "What's the big emergency?"  
"I'm packed and your backpack is by the bed so lets hurry up and GO."  
"Okay, okay..." Jayde mumbled as she zapped some formal clothes suitable for a princess.. "Gee whiz, you're excited."  
"I want to see the look on Aladdins face..." Mozenrath said.  
"This will definitely be a good sight, If Aladdin is everything my sister said he is." Jayde answered. "Okay then, We'll go now."  
"You've been in contact with Jasmine?" Mozenrath asked as they walked down the stairs.  
"Yeah, Only Jasmine and the Sultan and some of the guards will know me though." Jayde answered again. "I've been gone a long time."  
"How long?"  
"You don't know? And yet you know about the massacre? 6 years"  
"Ah, Longer than she's known the rat."  
They exited the citadel and Jayde zapped them a coach, with Tash as the driver and the other travellers companions scattered around.  
"All aboard." Cried Elias, scampering into the coach.  
"Your things are smart?" Asked Mozenrath. "Are you sure they can drive a coach?"  
"Of course, What use would they be if they weren't?" Answered Jayde. "It's all magic anyway."  
Leonie shut the door and they set off, with Mozenrath trying to instruct Jayde in the benefits of magic conservation.  
Once they had left the town Mozenrath zapped a portal to Agrabah. Jayde noticed this time that it did not drain him at all, and she grinned at her own success. Mozenrath noticed this.  
"Yeah, How can I ever repay you?" He asked. "I mean, apart from teaching you to be less frivolous with your magic?"  
"You know the answer to that one." Jayde laughed.  
  
********************************   
They neared Agrabah and Tash sped up the horses. Once at the palace gates, Grathawg knocked. The palace must have felt obligated to admit a posh coach like this, because almost instantly the head guard is sent out.  
Razoul stepped in front of the coach to ask their business and as Jayde stepped out of the coach his jaw dropped.  
"P....p... princess... Jayde?" He asked, dumbfounded.  
"Yes, And I do not believe you need to know my business." Jayde replied. "Take my horses to the stables, I need to speak with daddy."  
Jayde returned to the coach first and signaled for Mozenrath to exit. He looked at her with fear in his eyes,  
"Do you know what these guys will do to me" He hissed.  
"Yes, Nothing. Razoul and I have an... understanding." Jayde replied in a loud whisper.  
Mozenrath exited the coach slowly and the guards instantly drew their swords. Unflinching, Jayde hooked her arm in Mozenrath's.  
"Learn to treat my fiance with a little more respect." Jayde told them.  
"Y... your fiance?" Stutters Razoul. "But princess... You cannot... He is... What of..?"  
"I can, I will and I have. Rasoul, what of nothing for that is nothing."   
Jayde answered firmly. "Now take my coach. We can walk from here."  
Jayde and Mozenrath entered the palace and the throne room to find the Sultan playing with his toys.  
"Jayde!" He exclaimed "You... you're back!"  
Then the Sultan noticed Mozenrath. "N..Not him?"  
"I trust him, Papa." Jayde replied. "Don't worry, I heard all about him from Jasmine. There is nothing to worry about."  
"Congratulations!" Cried the Sultan, shaking a reluctant Mozenrath's hand enthusiastically. The Sultan was not one to hold a grudge.  
Suddenly, Aladdin and Jasmine entered the room. Aladdin took one look at Mozenrath and Jayde and he leapt at Mozenrath. Genie flew in at Aladdin's call and restrained Jayde. Mozenrath stepped away from Aladdin, brushing his arms where Aladdin had grabbed him.   
"Hey, Neutral ground." He said. "You can't touch me, street rat."  
"You are not allowed in Agrabah." Growled Aladdin. "And I am not a street rat."  
"I gives me great pleasure, street rat, to inform you that I was invited here." Replied Mozenrath. "Which mean that there is officially nothing you can do to stop me."  
"By who?" Asked Aladdin. "Who invited you?"  
"By Jayde." Replied Mozenrath, indicating to Jayde. "In fact, she told me to come."  
"What difference does that make, that one of your servants gives you permission come." Said Aladdin. "And since when did you have live servants."  
Jasmine answered that question for him.  
Uh... She's not a servant." Jasmine instructed Aladdin and Genie. "Jayde here, is my elder sister."  
Genie, shocked, droped Jayde. Immediately she was on her feet, facing Aladdin.  
"Dare you speak to royalty in that way?" She taunted.  
Aladdin was shocked speechless.  
"I decided to get Agrabah legally." Said Mozenrath to Aladdin, assured by how Jayde has spoken to Aladdin, that his action would not offend her. "And there is nothing you can do to stop me this time."  
"Sis? You're getting married?" Gasped Jasmine. "To this guy? He's not even good looking. He hasn't even got a tan."  
"Yes." Jayde replied. "But Mozenrath and I are in love, as is very obvious.."  
"What spell did you put on her?" Asked Aladdin, to Mozenrath. "How dare you cast a spell on anyone from Agrabah."  
"I did not cast a spell on Jayde." Answered Mozenrath with a smile, taking Jayde's hand. "None that she did not cast upon me, anyway."  
"Jasmine?" Aladdin went to her for advice. "What do you think?"  
"Yes.I can tell they are in love. My sister is a poweful sorceress. Mozenrath could not cast a love spell on her." Replied Jasmine. "But I don't know how she could ever consider... him."  
"Yes, how?" Asked Aladdin. "Would you care to answer the question all of us are wondering?"  
"You want the story?" Jayde said. "Well, I'll shorten it for you. I met Mozenrath in the desert and stayed the night over in his citadel because it was so late. I guess I fell for him then."  
"Jayde, What were you thinking?" Asked Jasmine, full of questions. "Is this just so you can be Sultana?"  
"No. It's not." Jayde replied. "I really dont know how it happened but he's nice. He'll make a good Sultan when the time comes, may that be ever so long from now." Jayde nodded towards her father.  
"You really think so?" Asked Aladdin.  
"Can I have a word in here?" Asked Mozenrath. "I have turned over a new leaf due to my new fiance's orders. Strictly no tyranny, no evil..."  
"And why should we believe you?" Interrupted Aladdin and Jasmine in unison. "Because I'm in love?" Said Mozenrath, with a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, and there's nothing you can do anyway."  
"Oh... Alright" Said Aladdin, taking the forgiving hero attitude.  
"Dont worry, Al" Said Jasmine. "Jayde can handle him, I just wonder if he can handle her."  
"The city will be in good hands" Said Mozenrath. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Ahhhhhh! Mozenrath!" Jayde cried"We're going to be late!"  
"What, Huh?" Mumbled Mozenrath as he woke up, half an hour too late.  
"We have ten minutes to be there!" Jayde instructed him.  
"What? Where?" Mozenrath asked, with a grin.  
"Our wedding, You DOOF!" Jayde laughed as she smacked him across the head with a pillow.  
Mozenrath pulled Jayde onto the bed. "Aww.. Can't we just stay here?"  
"Sincerest apologies but no!" Jayde got up and half dragged Mozenrath up with her.   
"No kidding Moze, We're gonna be late, with or without magic if you don't hurry." Jayde said as she zapped on her wedding dress.  
"I'm not supposed to see you in that you know." Mozenrath piped up.  
"You think bad luck happens to me?" Asked Jayde. "No, It doesn't. Now hurry up and get dressed."  
Dropping the sheets Mozenrath dragged off the bed with him he said. "Oh I think I could just go as I am."  
"Mozenrath." Jayde said coolly as she zapped herself an apple."It's a public wedding. The people of Agrabah may not appreciate that."  
"Alright, Alright." Mozenrath said and he zapped himself into clothes.  
"Great." Jayde replied as she tossed him the apple. "Have some brekky while I prepare the coach."  
Jayde walked outside and zapped a coach because they were not staying in the palace. Aladdin didn't trust Mozenrath that much yet.  
"Five minutes." Jayde called to Mozenrath.  
Mozenrath ran out of the house.  
"Have you got the ring?" Jayde asked.  
Mozenrath ran back in the house.  
Jayde boarded the coach and called out. "I'm leaving, and I don't want to leave without you!"  
Mozenrath ran out of the house again.   
"Here's your flowers." Mozenrath panted as he jumped up into the coach. "Someone is just as bad as me."  
"Well at least I wake up on time... Nearly." Jayde replied. "I only forgot those because I was so busy getting you moving."  
"So where are we going again?" Mozenrath asked as they pulled out of the driveway. "I forgot."  
Jayde suppressed a giggle. "You are far too cheeky for your own good."  
"There we go. Now you're smiling, This is supposed to be a happy day you know." Mozenrath said. "And I have to be cheeky, I can't be evil anymore, can I?"  
"I'm marrying you." Jayde said. "I'm inheriting Agrabah. I'm beating my friends to getting married. I am happy and I have plenty of reasons to be happy. But both Princesses and Travellers get this habit of not showing emotions. And you can be evil sometimes... if you want. I like it." Jayde smile almost evilly. "Oh... So you are happy?" Mozenrath checked. "Absolutely no problems?"  
Jayde laughed. "You're beginning to remind me of an old boyfriend I used to have."  
"What? NO!" Mozenrath said in protest. "I'm not supposed to remind you of an old boyfriend. Nor are you supposed to be thinking about an old boyfriend."  
"Yup" Jayde replied. "Man, Was he ever a loser."  
"Are you calling me a loser?" Asked Mozenrath. "Because if you're calling me a loser I can just jump off this coach right..."  
"Not at all." Interrupted Jayde. "I tell you, I'm not calling you a loser."  
"Yes, you are." Said Mozenrath. "You said I remind you of him and then you said he was a loser."  
"No, Something you said reminded me of him. He's the loser, not you." Said Jayde. "I'm not calling you a loser. I wouldnt marry a loser."  
"You're not married to me yet..." Mozenrath said. "So maybe you're not meaning to."  
"I am marrying you, there is no doubt about that. That is... Unless you dont want to get married?" Jayde raised an eyebrow. "You do want to marry me don't you? You don't want to back out?"  
"What? Oh yes... I mean no!" Said Mozenrath. "Your questions both had opposite answers. Yes, I want to marry you. No, I don't want to back out. Yes, I want to murder the street rat."  
"So you do need me as much as I need you?" Asked Jayde. "Not at the wedding dear, don't spoil the reception either."  
"A sorceror doesnt need anyone " Mozenrath said. "I don't need anyone."  
"Aw...." Jayde said, making a sad puppydog face. "He doesnt love me, WAAAAAAH!"  
Jayde wept crocodile tears loudly and dramatically but Mozenrath didn't seem to notice these were fake.  
"You started it! You called me a loser." He protested. "Oh... come on honey, don't cry."  
"Did not!" Argued Jayde. "I didn't call you a loser. You took it the wrong way."  
"Did so!" Said Mozenrath. "You did call me a loser, so there."  
"Our first fight, How cute!" Jayde said dryly. "I wish I had brought the portrait painter."  
"The portrait painter will be there at the end of the wedding." Said Mozenrath. "And this is not a fight."  
"Well duh!" Said Jayde, and she pouted and looked away.  
Mozenrath shuffled closer to Jayde and whispered quietly. "If it helps, I do love you and I do need you."  
"Thanks." Said Jayde, giving a loud fake sniff. "I love you too."  
"Are you still marrying me?"  
"Yeah." Jayde sighed. "I guess. I have nothing better to do."  
"Hey... Stop being cheeky." Mozenrath said.  
"Okay, but you have to stop being cheeky too." Said Jayde. "We should at least be able to make it through our wedding without messing around like a couple of children."  
Mozenrath drew Jayde near for a quick last kiss as their coach entered the palace. Rasoul approached from the left and addressed them.  
"Welcome back to the palace your majesties." He grimaced. "I will be escorting you to the ballroom for the wedding."  
"Ah, Dont be shy Rasoul. You'll make a great best man." Said Mozenrath. "And then you can help me take over the seven deserts."  
Rasoul growled as he led Jayde and Mozenrath to the ballroom.  
"Don't joke with me sorceror, You are not of the royal family yet and I could slit your throat from ear to ear before you had a chance to use any of your cowardly magic on me."  
"But Rasoul." Jayde said, fluttering her eyelashes. "You will be the best man won't you? Mozenrath did ask you."  
"Ah...Aww...Oh... Umm..." Rasoul mumbled.  
"Please?" Jayde said with a smile as wide as an Australian Rules football and eyes to match.  
"I never could say no to you, majesty" Replied Rasoul.  
"Exactly what is going on here?" Piped up Mozenrath.  
"You now have a best man who will not slit your throat from ear to ear, Like you guys are practically best buds now." Jayde said. "Hey, he could even replace Xerxes."  
"No, I mean what is going on between you and Rasoul?" Answered Mozenrath, persisting.  
"Rasoul is a... friend, an old friend." Jayde replied as they entered the ballroom. The size of the place silenced any further questions Mozenrath may have had and he took his place at the altar whilst Jayde duck back out to wait for her father.  
A minute passed and Rasoul filled Jayde in on what had happened while she had been away travelling.  
"...and so then Iago saved the day by destroying Jafar..." He droned while Jayde worried about what she was about to do.  
"What will I do when my father is gone?" She thought to herself. "Admittedly I won't have to rule until then but will I be any good when the time comes? And will Mozenrath really be a good ruler? Oh well, I still have Aladdin and Jasmine to fall back on if anything goes wrong. But what will Mozenrath and I be like as a couple? I havent even known him a week but... I feel its just meant to be. And it had to be hurried for the sake of the inheritance of the throne."  
Jayde was still turning these thoughts over in her head when the Sultan bustled up.  
"Oh dear, Are you ready? The guests are arriving. Oh I am so proud Jayde. My eldest, getting married." He said.  
"Yes papa, getting married. And I'm back too." Replied Jayde. "Back to stay as well."  
"Wonderful."  
  
****************************   
Aladdin paced back and forth in Jasmine's room while Jasmine applied her make-up and prepared.  
"I can't believe this!" He said.  
"Relax dear," Replied Jasmine,"Everything will be fine."  
"You sound like someone we both knew too much of! And how can everything be fine if Mozenrath gets the throne?!?"  
"Theres nothing you can do Aladdin, My sister..." Aladdin cut her off.  
"And your SISTER! How can she come parading in here like she owns the place? She abandoned it and her rights as heir when she left! And how is it that Mozenrath doesn't notice that the foul slut has been with Rasoul?"  
Jasmine rose from her seat with a speed powered by rage and slapped Aladdin across the cheek.  
"Dont you ever EVER EVER call my sister a slut!" She yelled. "You dont know half the story and it is not your position to judge my family you... you... street rat!"  
Jasmine grabbed him by the wrist, her nails digging into his skin.  
"You dont know the story so I will tell you" She hissed. "Seven years ago I was being made to marry Rasoul. Since I was not the heir it did not matter much to my father who I wed and he was of high enough ranking for a second child. My sister and I were close, so close that I wept to her behind closed doors about my troubles and my devastation at having to marry Rasoul, when all I wanted was to be free, so close that she could not bear my tears, so close that to protect me from marrying Rasoul she turned her charms on Rasoul, Determined to shame him and alleviate me of my marriage problems, or to sacrifice her freedom for mine. Do you see now? That the reason you call her a slut is because she loved me so much she was prepared to sacrifice her self for me. Unfortunately for my sister she was not able to shame Rasoul and my father simply altered his arrangements so that it would be her marrying Rasoul. My sister was mortified. She valued her freedom as much as I valued mine so her only choice was to leave. She first ensured that I would be safe, and not have to go back to marrying Rasoul by casting a destiny spell on me so I would never have to marry someone I did not want to, and then in the dead of night she escaped the guards, stole a horse and left."  
Aladdin was shocked and horrified at how he had viewed Jayde before he knew this.  
"I... I'm sorry" He said.  
"Your apology is accepted, Aladdin." Jasmine said and her grip loosened, "Someone once told me that you should never judge someone, never ever, because people are not always as they seem and people can change."  
"but... isn't she still taking you inheritance?"  
Jasmines grip tightened even harder that before.  
"The throne was never mine, from the day I was born I have been resigned to that fact. Things are as they should be, you should understand that." Jasmine whispered. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a wedding to attend. You can come too if you like, I shouldn't like to have to call you a street rat again."   
Jasmine dropped Aladdins wrist and exited the room. Aladdin was left sitting on her bed, bewildered at what he has just learnt.  
  
**********************   
People gasped, pointed, smiled and cried as Jayde walked down the aisle, bouquet in hand. Her husband-to-be simply grinned when he caught sight of her.   
The wedding was a long one and by the end Jayde was exhausted. After the reception Mozenrath and Jayde had their wedding portraits taken and boarded their coach and headed home, in a bit of a daze.  
"How does it feel to be married to me Jayde?" Asked Mozenrath. "Good?" "Oh, Very tiring." Jayde replied.  
"Too tired for..?" He said. "Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, maybe later." Jayde yawned. "I'm just happy that that is all over with."  
"I love you." Said Mozenrath. "But where did you get the idea to have a wedding like that for? I've never seen one like that before."  
"I love you too." Jayde replied. "Where else? My travels."  
"I love you more."  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not."   
"Do too."  
"Do not "   
"Do too "  
"Do not "   
"Do too "  
"Do not "  
"Fine!"  
"Awwww?" Jayde asked. "You dont love me more?"  
"I do." Mozenrath said. "I love you more, then."  
"Do not!"  
"Ok, quit it now, we're home." Mozenrath said finally as they arrived back at the house in Agrabah they were staying in. "That's enough."  
They exited the coach and Jayde zapped it out of existance behind her as they walked inside.   
"Do too."  
"Do not."   
"Do too." 


	7. Chapter 7

Jayde walked across the dance floor to see Mozenrath happily chatting to the Sultan. Jasmine and Aladdin were not at this dance that Jayde organised but nobles from several nearby towns were and they were apparently a good influence on Mozenrath. Jayde was under the impression that Aladdin and Jasmine had had a fight, because they have not been talking and Aladdin left three weeks ago, just after the wedding, with Genie, Abu and the Carpet. He claimed he had business with someone across the desert. Iago was still here though, he would never miss a chance to 'mingle with money' as he said. The way Jayde saw it, mingling was the best thing both Mozenrath and Iago could do, to keep them out of trouble. Especially Mozenrath. Jayde suspected the other nobles had taken a liking to him as a young entrepreneur and she even saw Xerxes talking to a shadowy man earlier which was strange since she had not seen him since they left the citadel. Xerxes seemed to have taken offence to Jayde's marriage to Mozenrath and he may have been jealous. Jayde was glad he had gotten over it though, if that was Xerxes she saw before.  
"Hello stranger." Jayde said to Mozenrath, not having not talked to him in hours because him and her had been very busy making a good impression on the neighbouring cities.  
"Do I know you?" He asked, with a puzzled look on his face.  
"I do not think so." Jayde replied. "But I see you are talking to my father."  
"This is your father?" He asked, incredulously.  
"Yes, I am Princess Jayde. Nice to meet you... What did you say your name was?" Jayde questioned.  
"I am Mozenrath, Lord of the Land of the Black Sands." He replied. "And this is your father?"  
"Yes, This is my father. The sultan of Agrabah you know." Jayde informed him.  
"Well that is very strange." Mozenrath says. "He told me he was a palace stablehand who snuck in for the drinks."  
"No doubt about it, sir. He is the Sultan and my father. I would know him anywhere."  
"Did you lie to me, My good man?" Mozenrath queried, addressing the Sultan.  
"Oh ho ho ho, hee hee hee," The sultan chuckled. "You two lovebirds and your funny games."  
"Pardon? I do not understand Papa?" Jayde said. "I do not know this man who stands before me."  
"And neither I know you, or this gracious stablehand." Mozenrath said to Jayde.  
"Silly? Have you been apart long enough that you two do not recognise each other." Said the Sultan.  
"Come to think of it, his face does look familiar..." Jayde mutters.  
"Yes, I believe I may have seen you before somewhere..." Said Mozenrath.  
"Now I remember!" Jayde exclaimed. "You served me in a bar yesterday!"  
"No, I do not work in a bar." He answered. "Maybe I saw you yesterday when I was walking at the markets."  
"That might be it... Wait I have it!" Jayde cried. " I married you three weeks ago, I am sure."  
"Yes, Thats it!" He said and cocked an eyebrow. "Were you drunk?"  
"Not as drunk as you." Jayde replied.  
"Well then, Now that we are introduced I would like to ask you to dance" He stated.  
"Oh, I do not know." Jayde answered. "I do not normally dance with strangers."   
Jayde laughed as he led her back onto the dance floor.  
"Did you see the look on the sultan's face?" He said, as the next song started.  
"Yeah, It was utterly hilarious " Jayde said.  
"You look very beautiful tonight Jayde." Mozenrath commented.  
Jayde glanced down at the clingy blue dress she chose while brushing her hair, teeth and not too gently prodding Mozenrath to wake him up. "Well, If I had the time I would have dug out something better" She said.  
"No, no really it is great." He assured Jayde.  
"You would think it was great of I wore a hessian sack."  
"True, true, but from the opinion of a nobleman and not a husband, it is nice." "Really?"  
"Do not ask me. Ask those men over there who are staring at you. I would say the drooling gives it away."  
"Hmmmm, I see." Jayde said. "And look, one of them is approaching us."  
The man walking towards them was enveloped in shadow. Even without the darkness you would not be abled to see his face for the hood.  
"Ahhh... Lord Mozenrath and the Lady Jayde." He greeted them.  
"That is PRINCESS to you buster." Jayde snapped at him as he interrupted their dance. She did not like people interrupting her.  
"Sorry your majesty." He replied. "I am Galeb, the traveller."  
"So what is your business?" Asked Mozenrath.  
"I have a proposition for you" Replied Galeb.  
"And that is?" Jayde asked, hinting that she was not to be left out of the conversation just because of her gender.  
"I know of a powerful artifact to be found to the north, far to the north, I ask that you find it for me" He said.  
"Wait a minute." Jayde stopped him. "Why can you not fetch it for yourself?"  
"It is heavily guarded." He replied. "Only powerful sorcerors", he indicated to Mozenrath, " Could get near it."  
"Why should we do this then?" Jayde asked, skeptically.  
"You will be greatly rewarded." Galeb replied.  
"Do you mind if we talk privately for a moment?" Asked Mozenrath.  
"By all means, do." Galeb said. "If you need to consult your... wife."  
Mozenrath and Jayde made their way to an empty corner of the ballroom, the same one they had their wedding in.  
"No WAY!" Jayde hissed. "That man is SLIMY, I can TELL."  
"You can not judge someone like that." Said Mozenrath.  
"He reminds me of a snake!" Jayde retorted.  
"So is it a yes or a no?" Mozenrath asked. "I will not do this without you or your approval. I could not."  
"Well charming as that is, I do not like this... but if the reward is great..."  
"So that is a yes?" Questioned Mozenrath.  
"Okay, After all there is not a magical artifact nor that guarding it that I can not handle."  
They walked back towards Galeb and Jayde squirmed. Her brain tells her she does not want to be anywhere near this man.  
"We have decided to take up your offer." Mozenrath said.  
"But we require more information." Jayde added.  
"Why of course, I should think you would want to know what you are looking for, where you are looking for it and what is guarding it." Galeb answered.  
"What is the name of the artifact we are looking for, what can it do and what does it look like? For starters." Jayde asked.  
"All good questions." Galeb chuckled and Jayde internally retched. The man was sickening with his leering manner. "And the answer to those is; The magical artifact is called the Brue crystal. It is the size of your fist and it changes colours depending on the soul of the person who holds it. When you find it it will likely be a dull grey. This gem has the power of shapeshifting, and through this, healing."  
"Got that, Brue crystal, dull grey, shapeshift." Jayde replied. "The guards?"  
"Quite the business person are we not?" Said Galeb. "It is hidden inside a mountain. At the heart of a labyrinth guarded by monsters, traps and riddles. Once you enter the labyrinth there can be no light for covering the ceiling are thousands of sleeping bats. I assume you are able to see without light? There are sections to the labyrinth with puzzles you must solve to get from one to the other. Be careful, for littering the halls are pits filled with spears pointed skywards. At the end of the labyrinth is a room. On a pedestal in the room are two gems. One is enchanted and would kill you if you touched it, the other is the Brue crystal."  
"We can handle it. Where is this mountain you speak of?" Mozenrath asked.  
"Ten days travel to the north there is a string of mountains. Clouds cover the tops of all these mountains but one. That is the Brue mountain." Answered Galeb.  
"Anything else?" Jayde asked.  
"That is all." Answered Galeb and he started to walk away.   
Jayde cried out. "Wait! How do we get into the mountain?" but he was already gone.  
"Mozenrath?" Jayde said.  
"Yes?" Mozenrath asked.  
"I do not know why... but I am scared."  
"You said yourself you can handle anything."  
"Yes, but that man makes me uneasy."  
"Aww poor widdle Princess. Do not fear, Mozenrath is here."  
"Why does that not reassure me? Anyway, something bad is going to happen."  
"When does something bad not happen?" Mozenrath asked, and he put his arm around Jayde and they finished their dance. 


	8. Chapter 8

"Easy now... Do not panic, Please." Jayde reassured her old horse Keavy as they cantered through the empty city. Mozenrath followed a little behind Jayde. "Ugh... Why do we *Ya-ah-ah* have to go by *whoa-oh-oh* horse?" He asked. "Because, Mozenrath my lord, NOT, the best way to find this place is from the ground. You can not zap yourself there because there is no there, or at least, we do not know where it is." Jayde replied.  
"But... They-ey are stinky and-yi... they are bumpy *whoah* and they are uncomfortable *ng*." He complained as he was jolted all over the place. "Oh... And one more thing" The poor sad sorceror added. "They hate me and they are always nasty tempered."  
He frowned and crossed his arms as the horse turned around and bit him.  
"That horse is a good judge of character it seems." Jayde said.  
"Why are you being mean to me?" He cried indignantly.  
"Because I do not want to be here either." Jayde snapped. "I could not care less about some damn crystal."  
"But..." He protested but is cut short.  
"We could be on our honeymoon you know! Or we could be doing some quest for ourselves. Do you know what they reward probably is? That dumbass will probably try to kill us!" Jayde yelled. " But NO we have to go look for the Brue crystal! We have to help some grotty old man! We have to be nice! WE can not refuse! Oh no! THAT would be mean. I liked you better when you were selfish."  
They walked on in silence until the sun droped and they came to a small inn.  
"We should... get some sleep for the night." Mozenrath mumbled.  
"Yeah."  
"We still have two more days travel ahead of us." He said, with a dejected look on his face.  
Jayde said nothing.  
"I should not have complained so much, eh?" He asked quietly.  
"No, you should not have." Jayde replied.  
"I am... Sorry?"  
"It is ok. You did not know how cruddy I felt as well."  
Mozenrath immediately brightened up and said happily, "Then lets get a place to sleep."  
They walked into the inn and Mozenrath approached the innkeeper.  
"Hey there, We need a room for two for the night." Mozenrath said as he gaves the innkeeper some gold.  
"I am very sorry, all we have left is a room for three and a man already occupies that." Replied the innkeeper.  
Mozenrath walked back to Jayde.   
"They do not have room." He consulted her.  
"Ask him if the man in the three will share." Jayde told Mozenrath.  
Mozenrath walked back to the inkeeper.  
"Say, My good man, This man in the three person room, will he mind sharing for the night? You see, we have come a long way and there is not another inn for miles." Mozenrath told the innkeeper.  
"Just a moment." The innkeeper replied, and he gestured to two chairs by the fire. "You wait there while I ask him."  
Jayde walked over and flopped into a chair. Man she felt exhausted.   
Emotionally from the fight with Mozenrath (small one as it was) and physically from the riding. Suddenly she remembered something. She jumped up with a start.  
"Mozenrath, the horses!" Jayde yelped as she rushed out the door.  
Jayde can not believe she left the horses outside. And at night and in this area too! Stupid stupid stupid.  
She gasped at the chill of the cold night air as the door slammed shut behind her. The horses are nowhere to be seen and she frantically searched the surrounding area. She thought to herself, "where could they be? If I were a horse where would I be?" And then she noticed a field around the back of the inn. She breathed a sigh of relief when at the sight of the horses grazing peacefully inside the field. She decided not to waste time and she zapped them out of existance.   
Jayde ran back to the inn to find Mozenrath leaning against the door.  
"Find the horses?" He asked.  
"Yeah" Jayde replied. "They were in a field round the back."  
"Then where are they?"  
"I zapped them."  
"You can get them back for tomorrow though, Can you?" Mozenrath asked.  
"Of course." Jayde replied. So what is the news on the room?"  
Mozenrath fished a key out of a small velvet pouch he was holding.  
"We have ourselves a roommate, it seems." He said.  
"Jolly." Jayde replied. "I do not know about you but I am exhausted. Can we make use of that room now?"  
"Just a second." He said and he fished another something out of the velvet bag. "This is for you." He said as he held out a gold necklace. "In all the commotion with the wedding and the quest I forgot to give it to you."  
"Ohhh..." Jayde said, as she took the necklace and slipped it round her neck. "It is beautiful."  
"It does not match your beauty." Mozenrath said. "I made it myself. It is enchanted."  
"What...? What does it do? I hope you have not cursed me" Jayde exclaimed.  
"No no no no No," Mozenrath laughed, "It allows the wearer to see the magical aura of magical items, quite handy for the quest we are on now."  
"Yeah...." Jayde replied. "About that quest..."  
"What about it?" Moze asked.  
"Well... That guy did not tell us where to meet him when we get the Brue Crystal." Jayde said.  
"Well I figured it did not matter...." Mozenrath said. "We keep the artifact."  
"Huh?" Jayde said.  
"Well the artifact is probably more valuable than the reward, otherwise what's the point? So we keep the Brue Crystal. If he finds us... We get the reward and then kill him and take the crystal."  
"Eh?" Jayde exclaimed. "Now THAT is the sorceror I married."  
"What, do you like me being.... evil?" Mozenrath asked with a curious grin on his face.  
"Like it?" Jayde said, and she brushed up close to him. "I love it."  
"Oh I dunno if I want a girl so attracted to the bad guys..." Mozenrath sighed. "Can I help it if you're..... hot?" Jayde asked as she wrapped her arms around him.  
"Hmmmm... I guess not." He said and he kissed Jayde.  
"Now lets get inside, It's cold out." Mozenrath continued.  
They walked arm in arm into the inn. The innkeeper approached them and spoke to them.  
"Your room is just down the hall. First door to the left." He said.  
"Thanks." Jayde said and she grabbed Mozenrath's arm and dragged him down the hall.  
"What's the hurry?" Mozenrath asked.  
"No hurry," Jayde replied. "I just like dragging people."  
Mozenrath got the key from his pouch and unlocked the door. Inside Jayde found their roommate sitting on a bed. He was tall, lean, had pale skin and tousled brown hair. Mozenrath entered behind Jayde but when he saw the stranger he stumbled, catching his balance on a chest of drawers near the door. The stranger appeared equally suprised, falling off the bed with a thump.  
"Dah... Dah.. Dah..." Stuttered Mozenrath. "D...Darius? But I thought..."  
"Moze?" Asked the stranger. "Mozenrath? It can't be. You're...."  
"Dead?" They said in unison.  
"Desdaine told me..." Mozenrath said.  
"The slave merchant said..." Said the stranger.  
"But you're alive!" Mozenrath exclaimed.  
"You're no deader than you were when I last saw you."  
"What in the world is going one here?" Jayde interrupted.  
"Oh yeah, Jayde!" Mozenrath said. "This is great! Let me introduce you. Jayde, this is my brother, Darius. We haven't seen each other since I was fifteen."  
"And you haven't changed a bit." Added Darius.  
"You neither. I think you might actually have gotten shorter." Said Mozenrath, Darius was a couple of inches shorter than Moze. "Anyway, Darius, this is my wife, Jayde."  
"Well Mozenrath, you've certainly landed on your feet. What a catch! She is pretty sexy, can I borrow her?" Asked Darius.  
"I see you're as cheeky as your brother." Jayde answered. "And no."  
"Sorry Darius. I can't lend you this girl... She has political status. First Princess of Agrabah you know."  
"Agrabah?" Darius asked. "The home of the infamous Jasmine, who can not be won?"  
"That's my sister alright." Jayde said. "But she has been won, even if they are fighting now."  
"Oh... Taken." Darius looked crestfallen. "But... do you think I could meet her? Just one day to remember?"  
"I.. guess it wouldn't hurt..." Jayde replied. "If you don't mind accompanying us on our quest?"  
"Eh, Why not." Replied Darius. "I wasn't doing anything."  
"Great, then that's settles." Said Moze. "I'm getting some sleep."  
He moved towards a single bed but Darius stopped him.   
"That's my bed," Darius said. "There is a double bed in the adjacent room for you two. You don't want me sharing with your princess, do you?"  
"Ok, Night." Jayde said and Mozenrath and Jayde entered the next room.  
As they undressed Jayde said to Mozenrath. "Well, it looks like we've got ourselves a travelling companion."  
"Yeah," Said Mozenrath. "We'd better make up now for the privacy we're going to lose on the rest of our journey."  
He pulled back the covers of the bed and motioned for Jayde to join him.   
Jayde lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep, with Mozenrath's arms around her. 


	9. Chapter 9

Jayde woke up alone, to silence. There was no-one in either of the rooms and Jayde found this strange.   
"Mozenrath wouldn't leave while I was still asleep, would he?" Jayde wondered. "I guess he did because his key isn't where he left it." Jayde wandered back into their room and fall onto the bed with a thump.   
"Where could he be...?" She wondered still, "Maybe there were bandits... No, they would run away screaming before he was through with them."  
Then it hit her, "Of course! He's just found his brother again. He'll be out spending time with him."  
Jayde took the copy of the key she had created, just in case, and she walked outside to the bar near the entrance to the inn. Any fears she may have had flooded away when she saw Mozenrath and Darius sitting together at the bar, talking and laughing.   
"Come to think of it... Darius is kinda cute, like Moze but different." Jayde thought but then banished the thought from her mind. "No, I love Mozenrath. That's why I married him."  
Jayde was about to join them when she heard a muffled beeping sound from the inner folds of her cloak. She hurried back to her room, hoping that no-one but her had heard the beeping. Jayde flopped down on the bed and fished out the crystal that was emitting the beeping. Carefully, She extracted a piece of paper from a slot in the crystal. The paper said Krys, but what could she possibly want?   
Jayde decided to investigate as there might be some entertainment to be had from this. Jayde scribbled a quick note on a piece of paper that was lying on the floor.   
"Mozenrath,   
I've been called away urgently.  
Don't wait at the inn because I'll catch up.  
Borrow a horse off Darius or something.  
Luv,  
Jayde."  
Jayde then opened a portal of swirling blue light and entered it. Once again, when she exited the portal she was surrounded by cloud, but this time she knew the way. Walking towards the cottage she heard a wailing coming from the zoo. She stopped, confused. What could possibly be wrong? Jayde walked to the zoo and found Ann sitting by the entrance. She had tears in her eyes, her short red hair was bedraggled and wet, her clothes were dirty and her cheeks and eyes were red and puffy from rubbing. She had been crying for a long time.  
"Ann? Whats wrong?" Jayde asked, walking over to sit next to her.  
"Oh Jayde." Ann sobbed. "Ty... *sniff* Ty... he left... *sob*... me."  
She burst into tears and Jayde was paralyzed. She was not used to these kind of situations so she helped Ann up and led her back to the cottage but she refused to enter so Jayde had to stop at the front step. Through the window Jayde could see Krys and Ty sitting at a table. Krys looked like she was trying to talk to Ty but she had an exasperated look on her face.  
Ann did not seem to be aware of her surroundings so Jayde left her and entered the cottage.  
Krys looked up at her and smiled, an expression that did not travel up to her eyes.  
"Hey Jayde." She said. "We're having a bit of trauma here..."  
"You called me for a break-up?" She said. "What am I, of all people, supposed to do?"  
"Well... I though you could.. I don't know, get them to talk or something? Ty has been sitting in that chair for two days... I don't think he hears me when I talk." Krys explained. " Or maybe you could send them to different places? I can't think of anywhere."  
"Ty... what? Are they like...? Seriously?" Jayde searched for the right words.  
"And if that's not enough, Ann has been incoherant since they had their little fight. Just wailing and babbling."  
"I'll try..." Jayde said. "Get yourself a coffee or something, you look worn out."   
Jayde noticed the black circles around Krys's eyes.  
As Krys exited the room Jayde seated herself beside Ty and made several attempts at conversation.  
"Hey Ty." She said. "Whats up?"  
Jayde got no answer, but she continued anyway.  
"You seem upset... Want to talk?" Jayde was appalled by her own stupid words. "You know... Talking helps... I've been here for you for all the others haven't I?" At these words Ty brightened up and looked at Jayde.  
"I haven't got your powers, or your luck, or your brains, but I know when something isn't right." He said. "And it isn't right."  
"Explain." Jayde said. "What isn't right?"  
"Ann..." Ty started. "She's not the one.... she... she's not for me... not right for me."  
"Her devotion to you doesn't change this?" Jayde asked.  
"She can give me all her love... and she does... but I can't return it... I can't love her..." He said.  
"So... you can't love her, but you feel guilty for breaking up with her...?" Jayde said. "Don't be."  
"Its not right.... to keep someone who you don't love... not fair to them..."  
"You're right Ty..." Jayde said. "You just gave yourself much better advice than I could ever give you. Don't beat yourself up, go for a holiday or something. You've been through a lot."  
"So... a holiday." Ty said. "Could you... if its not to much... make me a portal to... where were you last?"  
"Indonesia?" Jayde asked.  
"Yeah..." Ty said. "Could you create a portal for me to Indonesia? Now?"  
"Okay... " Jayde said.  
She lifted a hand and shot a bolt of green light which twisted into an oval shape. It taxed Jayde's energy because she also had to create the portal through time.  
"Jayde..." Ty said.  
"Yes..." Jayde grimaced.  
"Thanks..." Ty said as he walked through the portal.  
Immediately Jayde shut the portal. That kind of magic drained Jayde far too much. She didn't know HOW she managed when she was a traveller.  
Krys walked into the room with two coffees, just in time to see the light flicker away.  
"A time portal?" She asked slowly as they drank their coffee. "What did you do Jayde?"  
"I created a holiday for Ty, and I left us free to handle Ann." Just as Jayde finished this sentence she heard a cry from outside.  
Krys and Jayde dashed outside and it took them only a few minutes to find Ann who was rapidly slipping beneath a cloud bank.  
"Ann!" Jayde called, but before Jayde could act she had slipped below the cloud and was falling the many miles to the ground. "Ann... " Jayde repeated, dejected and watching the spot where she fell for a long time.  
Finally Jayde turned to comfort Krys, who was equally dazed.   
"I just lost two friends in one day..." She said. "I... I... I don't understand... I enchanted these clouds. You CAN'T fall unless you want to..."  
She trailed off when she realized what she had just uncovered.  
"You need some rest hun." Jayde said, and she took Krys's hand and turned her back towards the cottage. "You've been through a lot, more than even me..."  
"You... can't help her?" Krys asked as they walk back inside. "You can't bring her back?"  
Jayde looked at Krys in surprise, then softened... "Krys... I ... don't have the power..." Jayde said, trying to explain without sounding cruel. "You know I can't raise dead.... not without many days of rest before hand... "  
"Oh... you created the time portal...." Krys said.  
Jayde was suddenly scared for her friend. She was supposed to be a powerful sorceress too.   
"Krys... you said yourself once... those that die should stay that way... its not natural..." Jayde said.   
"I... I'm sorry..." She replied.  
"You have nothing to be sorry for..." Jayde replied. "Now you are going to get some rest."  
"Okay... do you have to get back to Agrabah?"  
"Oh hun, I've been away from you too long... I'm not in Agrabah anymore... We're travelling on a quest." Jayde said.  
"You'd better get back then." Krys said. "You must have some journey ahead of you."  
"I am NOT leaving." Jayde stated firmly. "Until I know you are going to be okay."  
"Jayde, relax." Krys said. "I'll manage..."  
"You're sure?" Jayde raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes.... I can heal others..." She said. "I'll heal myself."  
"You're absolutely sure?"  
"I'd only bring you down."  
"Positive?"  
"Yes."  
"Really?  
"GO!"  
"Okay.. okay..." Jayde said. "Yeesh, do you have to be so harsh?"  
Jayde started to create a portal back to the inn but nothing happened.  
"Um... Krys? This is kinda embarrassing but..." Jayde ran her hand through her hair. "I'm all out of magic."  
Krys smiled, an expression that came hard at a time like this.  
"Hey" Jayde said and she pushed her. "It's not funny!" Jayde was serious now. "Could you top me off?"  
Krys raised her hand to Jayde's and a glow of rose coloured light tranferred from her to Jayde. With this Jayde was able to finish the portal and she called a quick goodbye as Jayde stepped in and left Krys to sort out her business.  
Jayde appeared back at the inn to find the room still empty and the note where she left it. Jayde thought this was strange as she had been gone a long time. Curious, she picked up the note to find an addition to her message at the bottom.  
"Jayde,  
Darius and I have set off, continuing the north  
road we were heading along before. He had a   
spare horse luckily.  
See you soon,   
Mozenrath."  
"Oh." Jayde said to herself. "He has already left."  
She gathered her belongings and walked out the room to follow him. 


	10. Chapter 10

Jayde zapped Keavy back into existance and they raced along the dirt path. At them moment Jayde seriously didn't want to be left alone. The numb feeling was wearing off and she felt sick. She missed Mozenrath and she also couldn't believe what she had just experienced. It hurt beyond her understanding and she felt a greater appreciation for the relative degree of sanity she had carefully cultivated in her life. She saw two figures in the distance whom she picked out to be Mozenrath and Darius. A lone tear coarsed down her cheek but after a little while longer she reached the conclusion that she really had no need to be too devastated. Jayde was aware of the remarkably slim chance that one day, after many months of meditiation and relaxation, she may be able to bring Ann back. Mozenrath's lecture on magic conservation sounded alot more sensible to her in that moment. She smile at the feeling of exhileration as her cloak and hair whipped in the wind.  
"Now if Ann had experienced this..." She thought, before stopping herself, biting her lip to quell the sudden surge of emotion. "She is not truly gone." Jayde told herself, to shut her overactive 'what-if' imagination up. "Now is not the time to mourn."  
After a while the two figures ahead gained form and Jayde could confirm their identities as being Mozenrath and his brother Darius... "Who is cute."   
Jayde decided. "In a different way to Moze." Jayde transformed Keavy into a horse and cart while hoping Keavy wouldn't mind and Jayde signaled to Mozenrath to stop and wait.  
It took a few minutes for Mozenrath to notice the giant ball of fire that was sent hurtling along beside him, and a few minutes more for him to get back on his horse. Certainly a rather amusing sight considering Jayde zapped it out of existence a second later and invited him to join her in the cart as the road was different now, suitable for a cart.  
"Getting better at riding, I see." Jayde joked, now sitting beside Moze and Darius. "You have perfected the fall."  
"There are better ways of getting a person's attention." Mozenrath replied, snappily. "Like calling out for one thing... So what was it that dragged you away so suddenly?"  
Jayde's face fell. "My... a few of my friends had an upset." It was a bad explanation but Jayde found the subject hard to explain.  
"That's it?" Mozenrath asked. Jayde had expected him the react in such a way "Well yeah." Jayde replied, running through her mind the few ways she could explain the signifigance to Mozenrath. "Thats's it."  
"So what is so important about an upset between friends?" Asked Mozenrath.  
"To understand that you'd have to know my friends." Replied Jayde.  
"Well tell me about them." Replied Mozenrath. "I'd like to understand."  
"Let's see..." Jayde started. There was so much she couldn't mention. "Krys, she is the one all those animals belonged to, is a very nearly all-powerful sorceress quite like me. She's my best friend I wound have to say. Ty is an egomainiac human which admittedly is not that bad but then there was his girl... ex-girfriend Ann who is... was an emotionally unstable half-human with magic she couldn't control."  
"Ah. That explains it. A nasty break-up."  
"Not just any break-up." Jayde said. "A break-up coupled with suicide that I, of all people, could not control. Thankfully, one day when I have five months, a yak skin and a waterfall to spare, I might be able to reverse the effects but still, it is devastating at the moment."  
"Reverse a death?" Mozenrath was alarmed. "Are you sure that's sensible?"  
"I have to." Jayde replied. "I was completely powerless when it happened. If I hadn't been so hasty getting Ty out of the way, I would have been able to avert it all. Besides, I can handle any strange side-effects the revive spell would cause."  
"Even..." Mozenrath gulped. "Even if you ended up with a life-for-a-life effect?" "That would't happen." Said Jayde. "I wouldn't let it happen. I know all the nescessary charms and."  
Suddenly, Darius interrupted in. "Magic talk, eh?" He said, obviously trying to impress his brother. "I studied magic for a while, my teacher said I was pretty powerful."  
"As powerful as me?" Mozenrath asked.   
"More powerful, I think." Replied Darius, trying now to impress Jayde, not Mozenrath. "I'm not entirely sure."  
"Don't count your chickens, Darius." Jayde advised. "You may have been more powerful than Mozenrath say... a few months ago, but there's no way you could come close now."  
"How about you, Jayde?" Asks Darius. "How powerful are you?"  
Well, I don't like to brag but..." Jayde started, but was quickly interrupted by Mozenrath.  
"Be truthful, Jayde." Mozenrath said. "You do like to brag."  
"Okay, I'll brag then. Let's put it like this." Jayde continued. "There is a mountain controlled by me, levitating half a mile up, on the other side of the world... but it's really nothing, I guess."  
"Wow... That's power." Said Darius, in awe. "Could you give me some?"  
"Sorry." Jayde replied. "As much as I love giving out magic to everyone wily-nily, I'm very drained at the moment, from creating a time portal in addition to giving Moze half my magic. I really couldn't."  
"What? That was your magic you gave me?" Mozenrath exclaimed. "I just thought you... actually I don't know what I thought."  
"Yeah, Well I knew you wouldn't part with your gauntlet otherwise and there was no way I was marrying a guy with a skeletal hand."  
"Hold up, hold up." Darius cut in. "I think a little history lesson might be in order."  
Mozenrath started telling Darius everything that has happened since they were split up and Jayde's gaze drifted to the mountains ahead of them.  
There were six mountains closest to them, getting taller from left to right and then smaller the other way. Behind the first row were who knows how many mountains. Jayde noted the quick transition from the flat plains to the crowded mountain range. It was obviously created by magic. After a few minutes, Mozenrath distracted Jayde from her pondering.  
"Jayde." He said. "Darius wants to know why we hooked up."  
"Correction." Darius interrupted. "I want to know why you would ever ask Mozenrath to marry you."  
"Well that's a long story." Jayde said. "But we have a long journey ahead. Where would you like me to start?"  
"At the beginning." Said Darius. "Tell me how you met, first."  
"Okay. I was travelling through the desert on a camel back to Agrabah because my magic was drained from a recent time portal. I don't do them often, most travellers don't, but I had recieved a magic crystal message from my sister that she was getting married. Well, I wanted to be there for the wedding and I wanted to claim the throne for myself so... I had to get back home as soon as possible and find a suitor. Suddenly I saw someone amongst the dunes which is what surprised me. Surprising me more was that the 'someone' was still alive and dressed in pretty expensive robes. I put two and two together and decided to try my luck. I introduced myself and it turns out he was Mozenrath, Lord of the Land of the Black Sands. My sister had been complaining about this particular villain in recent messages but I decided it was still worth a try. I do love conflict after all. Well I offered him my help and gave him a lift back to his citadel. By the time we got there it was too dark for me to ride back to Agrabah and although my powers were somewhat recharged, I still did not have enough power to create a portal to Agrabah. Mozenrath here suggested I stay overnight. He took me to his room and insisted I share his bed, I have no idea why."  
At this, Mozenrath began to blush a deep red. "Uhh... It was the only decent bed in the citadel. Xerxes... had been having some pretty gruesome problems on the ones in the guest rooms."  
"Right." Jayde continued. "Well I stayed the night and decide to stay three more days to see what I could do. My friends always said I'm very hasty and I certainly didn't waste any time falling in love with Mozenrath, an obvious setback to my plan. I decided then to tell him who I am, and the implications this had. To my surprise he took it pretty well. Telling me he'll do anything to stay with me. The first thing that came into my mind was the gauntlet. He won't have told you about that, I don't think. I had grown pretty curious about it so I asked him to take it off. I guess he was expecting rejection because he put up a fight at that but eventually he gave in. I didn't reject him like he expected. Instead, I used all the power I had just regained to heal his skeletal arm and destroy the gauntlet. It was painful for him so he got pretty annoyed when I told him he couldn't have the gauntlet back. I remembered that I didn't need any power to give him half, in fact a selfless act like that actually charges your power... for a while. I simply split my power and gave him half. He's a lot more powerful than you now, that's for sure, and I've got back the power I gave away in other ways. That makes him the second most powerful person in the world and me the most powerful."  
"So that's why you said a few months ago my powers could have surpassed his."   
Said Darius. "But you said you regained the power you shared with him? Why can't you share with me?"  
"I don't want to." Said Jayde."You can't make me."  
"Okay." Said Darius. "So can you at least tell me what you did after fixing Mozenrath?"  
"Yep." Answered Jayde. "Anyway, After that I started preparing for the journey while Mozenrath recovered from the spell. When we got to Agrabah, Rasoul let us in to the palace but went psycho when he saw Mozenrath. That made me realize that this would be harder than I thought. Luckily, I am able to control Rasoul easily. Daddy was another matter, He quickly forgave Moze for past mistakes and welcomed him into the family. My sister was the same, she's permanenly indebted to me. Her boyfriend and his associates were tough but they did what Jasmine told them and that's how we got married."  
"Interesting." Said Darius. "And you won't give me any magic?"  
"No." Jayde answered.  
Everyone was silent for a while while Jayde tried to work out which mountain the crystal would be hidden in. 


	11. Chapter 11

The biggest mountain was directly in the middle of range and all the mountains around it seemed to block any cloud from coming near so Jayde figured that was the one. She performed a magic scan and located a doorway in the far side.  
"We've got only a short journey in there." Jayde said, and she created a portal which transported them to the other side of the mountain with the last of the magic Krys had given her. The doorway had a large picture on the front but the pieces are jumbled. It took Jayde about an hour to recreate the picture on the ground with a stick, unjumbled that is, because both brothers were trying to give advice as to what it could be, and interrupting her constantly. Eventually when Jayde had unscrambled it, she could see that the picture showed a key inside a fake boulder next to the door and a piece of slab that moved away to reveal the keyhole. Jayde retrieved the key from the boulder, which opened like a trunk. That was considerably easy because she both brothers were sitting against a tree, arguing about the relative merits of magic rings, and therefore were not interrupting her. The keyhole was another matter. There was no problem with interruptions, rather there was a physical barrier. Jayde had to borrow a dagger from Darius and with alot of work and alot of time, she managed to force it open. Inserting the key, she opened the door. There were scratchmarks on the other side and the bleached white skeleton of a minotaur, long dead and the bones picked clean of any meat.   
"There was an obvious flaw in that plan." Jayde said. "Sure, A minotaur is a good guardian but you really need to feed it once in a while. I'd say the bats and other monsters are dead too."  
"Looks like we're facing the labyrinth." Said Mozenrath. "I'll provide the light but watch your step. A place this old will be riddled with pits and that guy, Galeb, mentioned traps."  
The place lit up with a flash from Mozenrath's hand and a ball of orange light hovered above the trio. Jayde took a step forward and surveyed the area.  
"Uh... seems okay." Jayde muttered. "No big holes around here."  
"Which way do we go?" Asked Darius, as if he expected Jayde to know. "There are three tunnels."  
Jayde shut her eyes and concentrated. A minute or two passed before Mozenrath interrupted.  
"Jayde... what are you doing?"  
"Nothing." Jayde replied. "Just resting my eyes. Here, we should go through this tunnel. It slopes down further than the others."  
With those words, the party commenced. Jayde went first, then Mozenrath, with Darius following close behind and the orange ball of light even further back, sharing just enough light for Jayde to see by.  
The tunnel went deeper and deeper, and the air had a mouldy, musty feel to it. Almost like someone had died in there. Well, someone had died. Millions of bats, a few monsters and one minotaur, to be exact. The cave got colder and damp and Jayde shivered.  
"I should have brought a cloak." She said, her voice seemingly muffled by the darkness. "It's a little bit cold."  
Mozenrath didn't get the hint, and he drew his cloak tighter around his thin frame.  
"Yeah, It is pretty cold." He said. "But I don't know where the dampness is coming from. I can't hear any water."  
"It comes from being underground, Moze." Said Darius, dryly.  
They continued in silence, the passage snaking all over the mountain. Sometimes now, the tunnel sloped up, but mostly it went down, and fairly steeply.  
It was all ramp and no stairs, so Jayde's legs were beginning to ache.  
Just as they though they could go no further, the tunnel sloped further upwards and opened out into a small chamber, an eerie red glow filling it.  
"Wow..." Jayde gasped. The ceiling was covered in crystals, and even the first Princess of Agrabah couldn't hide her awe. Galeb had been right, there was a pedestal in the middle with two gems.  
Darius was about to take a step forward when Mozenrath stopped him  
"Wait." He said. "Galeb said something about solving puzzles. We can't have bypassed them all."  
"You're right." Jayde said. "Close your eyes everyone so that you don't have to believe what you see."  
They did this, and Jayde muttered a few magic words to lift any illusions. Upon opening their eyes, the trio was shocked. Most of the room had dissappeared. The rest was a pit, yes, filled with spears, with a small ledge around it.  
Jayde sighed. "We've got a while longer to go..."  
The three carefully and in single file, walked over the ledge. They tried not to look down, but Darius did and what he saw was not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless, he swallowed and trudged on.  
The tunnel sloped down, with tunnels branching off as they passed. Mozenrath glanced down them, hoping to find magical artifacts he could pilfer. Down one he saw a thousand skeletal warriors waiting to be awoken by their true king, down another, piles of gold, another held only a tarnished old lamp on a pavillion of gold. Mozenrath had a good idea of what was in the lamp, and he made a note to come back to all of these places some day.  
Suddenly, the cave came to an abrupt hault. It was a dead end.  
Jayde cursed at the wall. She was sure they could keep going if they could only get to the other side. She tried a digging spell, but the wall engulfed it. She tried various magical passwords, both Mozenrath and Darius lending their knowledge of passwords.  
Frustrated, Jayde kicked the wall... and her foot went right through it. it was another illusion.  
"Okay guys." Said Jayde. "Follow me."  
Jayde strode through the wall and everthing went black. She kept going and the world cleared. She was in the passage on the other side.  
Jayde saw her digging spell digging it's way into the wall and she called it back. Then she remembered the magical passwords. Doors that should have been left shut were opening up all over the passage.  
Mozenrath and Darius chose that specific moment to move through the wall and bump into her.  
"What's the old up?" Mozenrath asked.  
"Shhh..." Jayde whispered. "Back we go..."  
Jayde pushed the two back through the wall and hoped fervently that the monsters didn't know about it.  
The group sat down a good distance away from the end of the passage and Jayde explained what had happened.  
"Overall." She said. "It should take them about a day to either kill each other, or get everything sorted out and go back to sleep."  
"So we have to wait." Said Mozenrath.  
"Yup." Said Jayde. "I suggest we use the time to sleep. We should be quite safe here."  
"But what about the monsters?" Asked Darius.  
"Do you see them crashing through the wall?" Asked Jayde. "They don't know about it."  
"They could find out." Darius persisted.  
"So you stay up an guard." said Jayde. "If it'll make you feel better."  
Darius stopped complaining and Jayde did what she could with the area, japping a few cushions.  
Jayde settled down and went to sleep, Mozenrath not far behind her. Darius remaned vigilant for a while but sleep eventually got the best of him.  
All three awoke at the same time, and they had a short conversation on what should be done next.  
"Alright... I think we've had enough time waiting here." Said Mozenrath. "Whatever monsters are left, we should be able to take out."  
"Oh yeah?" Asked Jayde. "And what if there's a thirdak?" Jayde had heard about some of Mozenrath's adventures from her sister Jasmine, through correspondance while she was away.  
It was at this point that Darius decided to give his input. "Why doesn't one of us go check?"  
"A covert operation?" Jayde was enticed by the idea. "It sounds like it might work."  
"I don't think we should split up." Said Mozenrath. "One of us, alone, is a lot weaker than all three."  
"Except for one of us..." Said Darius.  
"I'll go." Volunteered Jayde. "There's nothing that could hurt me, I'm sure."  
Mozenrath was not happy with this arrangement. "But what if you got hurt?"  
"But what if all of us got hurt." Jayde countered. "It's better this way. You're not afraid... are you Mozenrath?"  
"Well, yeah!" Said Mozenrath. "Afraid for you."  
"You needn't be." Darius said. "There's practically no chance anything will happen."  
"Oh, so now we're saying will instead of could." Said Mozenrath. "Then I guess it's already decided."  
They argued some more, Mozenrath eventually giving in. Jayde vapourized the cushions from underneath them and stood up.  
"You guys are gonna have to be on your toes in case there's an emergency." She said. "So no relaxing."  
Darius made a sound of contempt. "There won't be an ememrgency."  
"Don't jinx it." Hissed Mozenrath.  
The bickering continued until finally Jayde put her foot down.  
"Okay, I'm going now." She said, hiding her fear and walking through the wall.  
The world went black again, and Jayde felt a tingling, a cold mist wrapping around her. It was almost suffocating but suddenly Jayde felt like she couldn't move. Her limbs felt heavy and she just felt like going to sleep. Her mind was slugginsh, but on last throught course through her brain. Something was wrong. Jayde struggled forward and everthing cleared. There were no monsters on the other side but Jayde was afraid to go back through the door. Obviously you weren't supposed to travel through it more than once. Jayde considered teleporting, but that was too risky. She didn't want to end up waist deep in solid rock. There was nothing left to do but to wait, and hope that the others would follow.  
Instead of staying there, Jayde wandered further down the passage to check the doors. They were all closed and would not open again until the magic passwords were said once more. Jayde wandered back up the passage, she didn't want to get lost without the others.  
An hour passed and Jayde heard a noise from the wall.  
"Ah! What's going on? I can't move."  
Jayde decided to risk it and she reached an arm into the wall and pulled. Out came Mozenrath, who was gripping Darius's arm tightly. Together, they pulled, and Darius popped through the wall.  
"We ahh... got stuck." Mozenrath said, and looked inquiringly at Jayde.  
"I have no idea." Said Jayde. "It did the same to me. That's why I didn't return."  
"You couldn't call out?" Darius asked. "Why did you make us wait an hour?"  
Jayde explained. "I know these illusions. You can hear what's inside the wall, but not what's on the other side."  
The trio dusted themselves off, and continued down the passage together.  
After more endless passages and chambers filled with skeletons, and even a wraith, the three reached a second large chamber. Jayde tried to lift the illusion again, but the scene stayed the same.  
Once again, the ceiling was covered with crystals, but these looked dull, like they had been there a long time. This was not an illusion.  
There was a pedestal in the middle of the room and two gems lay on it, greyish in colour.  
"So let's grab the real on." Darius said, and he strode forward. jayde stopped him.  
"Which is the real one?" She asked. Darius didn't know the answer. Jayde through for a moment, and then reminded Jayde about the necklace he had given her.  
"Necklace? What about the necklace?" Jayde asked. "Oh... magical aura! That'll work."  
Jayde dug the necklace our of the pocket and slipped it over her head. There was a faint red glow from the ceiling and a faint red glow from the gems. There was no way, however, to discern which gem was the right one. The glow from the ceiling disturbed Jayde, so she motioned the others to stand back, and she sent a ball of light to hover near the pedestal. As she had expected, the entire ceiling of crystals came crashing down, they would have skewered the trio.  
Jayde looked at Mozenrath and Darius.  
"This pendant alone will not help us." She said. "But I think I know another way."  
Jayde plucked a hair from Mozenrath's scalp, "Ouch!", and another from Darius's, "Ouch!"  
She twisted them together in a complicated knot and muttered a magic spell.  
"A brother spell." Jayde explained. Now the crystal on the left was glowing black, and the one on the right was glowing white. Jayde strode forward and oicked up the white one. Nothing happened. 


	12. Jasmine's Chapter (for Jasmine)

"Ah... Life has never been better." Said Jasmine, lying on the beach chair. "I can hear the ocean."  
This was true. After getting really annoyed at Aladdin after the wedding, when he still held a grudge against Jayde, Jasmine has sold some of her less important jewelry to merchants in the Agrabah markets, and had bought a camel that wasn't magically tagged like the ones at the palace. She had paid off a couple of travellers (No, these weren't any more trustworthy than the travellers Jayde talked about) and they had felt in a good mood so they escorted her to this holiday resort. Lying next to the ocean, watching the sun-bronzes babes walk past, Jasmine felt far far away from all her royal duties. The day passed very quickly.  
"Oh... you look like you need a bit of royalty." Jasmine would say whenever she saw a nice bit of young flesh. The guys certainly didn't seem to mind, either. She was getting more action here than she ever had with those stuffy suitors at the palace. As the tide came in, and the sun set, Jasmine felt relaxed and decided to go in. With the last of the money, she had secured some lodgings. She felt a twinge of guilt. This was the first time she had been away from Aladdin for so long... in a long time.  
But... not to worry. Next to Jasmine's lodgings was a tavern by the name of "Taman Hitam". The noise of rowdy drinking and unruly get-togethers emanated from the building. Jasmine braced herself and decided to enter. Every pair of eyes in the tavern turned to look at her.  
"Uh... I'll have a beer?" Jasmine said nevously. The silence made her voice echo. You could have heard a pin drop.  
The bartender, with a greasy cloth, redistributed the grime more evenly on the glass he was holding and grunted.  
"Beer? What sor' uv a lady drinks beer?"  
"One who will leave you, five dollars poorer, if you don't get her a beer in the next twenty seconds." Jasmine replied.   
The bartender hacked and spat into the glass and wiped it, leaving it relatively more clean. He filled the glass and slid it along the bar towards Jasmine, who looked at the glass disgusted.  
"You don't have water to clean the glass with?" She asked.  
"You want's the beer, you get the beer. Fancy ladies don't drink beer... if you ain't a fancy lady, you don't need a clean glass." The bartender said, scratching his beer-belly and holding out a sweaty hand.   
Jasmine paid the man and picked up the glass, swallowing hard. This was a new experience, certainly, but... anything to help forget about Aladdin.  
"I fervently hope that whoever said, 'what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger'... I really hope they were right." Jasmine muttered to herself and, holding her nose, took a sip. Ten glasses later, she slammed an empty glass on the bar, with the others, and wondered why she couldn't stand properly.  
"Giv me anuver." Jasmine's voice slurred slightly. The bartender snatched up the glass.  
"Money first." He said.  
Jasmine patted herself in search of money, but found no coins. The bartender snorted and turned away.  
"No... shwait..." Jasmine mumbled. "Pliz... anuver... I'll gessumore money... an pay ya back den."  
"No." The bartender was firm. "We only give loans to regulars."  
"Uhuh heh heh... I'll me be a regulararar soon..." She said. "Not goin anywhere."  
"Sorry Miss." The bartender said. "I think you've had enough."  
"Thass funny." Jasmine said. "But I dun wanna larf! I'll tellyer when I hads enuff."  
Suddenly, two burly men appear behind Jasmine.  
"Miss... When Charles here says you have had enough... It means you have had enough." Said the first man, placing a large hand on Jasmine's shoulder.  
Jasmine looked back at the bartender... what kind of a name was Charles for a bartender. Really, he looked like more like a Cecil. Jasmine struggled for a moment. "Juss wun more..." She slurred, before collapsing, sprawled on the bar.  
"Come on Matthias." Said the second burly man. "Let's escort the lady back to her room."  
They exited the tavern, carrying Jasmine between them, and struggled over to the hotel. For a skinny little Princess, Jasmine was pretty heavy. It must have been the beer.  
"Here Morton." Said Matthias. "Most of the new ones stay here."  
"But how do we know which room she's in?" Asked Matthias.  
"Well... we ask." Said Morton. "Isn't that what the heroes normally do?"  
"I really don't know..." Said Matthias. "I think they have an instinct for it... I'm new to this whole business."  
"Well..." Said Morton as they entered the lobby. "The receptionist will know."  
They laid Jasmine down on the waiting'room chairs, and walked over to the receptionist. "Uh... Excuse me..." Said Morton. "This young girl here, she passed out in the tavern and... we're helping her to her room."  
"Yeah... so... do you recognise here?" Asked Matthias. "I mean, Is she staying here."  
The receptionist peered over his glasses at the unconscious Princess, who was now lying with her head sloped back and her mouth open, a trail of drool swaying in time with her breath.  
"Erk... yes... she checked in this morning." Said the receptionist. "Room 7b."  
Matthias and Morton picked up Jasmine, and she groaned.   
"Come on little missy." Said Morton. "Let's get you to your room."  
They half carried, half dragged, Jasmine to room 7b, and laid her out on the bed.  
"You know, Matthias." Said Morton. "She's very vulnerable here... I can't help thinking..."  
"Cut it out." Said Matthias. "We're good guys now."  
"Oh... okay."  
"I'll just write her a note and leave it here with some herbs to combat hangover and a little bit of money."  
This they did, and Morton felt a bit strange. "Are you sure we..."  
"We don't need that money." Said Matthias.  
"But what about if..."  
"Do you understand the meaning of not evil?"  
"How about if I only...?"  
"No! We're good guys now." Said Matthias. "That's all behind us."  
"Oh... okay." Said Morton, as they left the room, locking it behind them and slipping the keys under the door. "But I don't understand why you got so mad. I was just saying we should have shut the curtains. That light will hurt bad when she wakes up."  
  
************************  
  
Imagine "Morning Mood" playing as background music. Imagine birds chirping their morning chorus in perfect harmony. Imagine morning sunlight filtering gently into Jasmine's room, filling it with a transparent yellow glow. Imagine Jasmine's pain when she woke up to the horribly bright glare shining in her eyes. She groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow onto her face, in an attempt to block the light. That worked, except for the fact that when she blinked there was a little square of light flashing, a remnant that had imposed itself into her eyes surprisingly quickly. Jasmine's head throbbed and she was overcome by a dizzy spell. She felt really sick. In fact...  
Jasmine returned from the window, wiping her mouth and wondering what had happened the night before. She remembered drinking a beer, then another... but after the fifth she lost count. She couldn't remember how she got back to her room and this worried her. Certainly she didn't see any naked men walking around the room, and this made her feel a bit relieved. She wasn't THAT mad at Aladdin. Jasmine looked around and noticed the note, the hangover herbs and the money. Blinking in the light, she reached over and opened the note. It said, in a hand that obviously didn't write much,   
"Dear little Missy,  
Sorry about the hangover. You really shouldn't drink so much when you're not used to it.  
If you remember our friend Charles, he told us to take you back here.  
Don't be surprised if the receptionist gives you a funny look.  
Being carried to your room, unconscious, by two burly men will do that.  
These herbs will help with your headache, and you seemed to have lost all your money  
so we left you this little bit. It's not much, but it will get you a meal and a trip back home,  
wherever that may be. Take care, and tell everyone you know about us.  
Sincerely,  
Morton, Matthias and Charles. GoodGuys&Co. Pty. Ltd.  
"Well that explains everything, I suppose." Jasmine muttered to herself. She stood, rubbing her forehead, and walked over to the mirror and looked at her reflection. She looked awful, all pale and sickly. She walked to the window, squinted out, it was too bright, and closed the curtains. Luckily for her, the owner had invested in extremely thick curtains, to appeal to the vampire demographic. Jasmine, feeling a little better, walked back to the nightstand.  
"And people call this one of the joys of life." Jasmine thought. "I wish it was Ramadan. There wouldn't be any of this trouble then." Jasmine boiled the hangover herbs and curled up in bed, and drank a nice brew of anti-hangover tea. She felt her head clear up immediately. Then, hesitating, Jasmine took the money and went to hire a camel. It was time to return to her love. 


	13. Chapter 13

The biggest mountain was directly in the middle of range and all the mountains around it seemed to block any cloud from coming near so Jayde figured that was the one. She performed a magic scan and located a doorway in the far side.   
"We've got only a short journey in there." Jayde said, and she created a portal which transported them to the other side of the mountain with the last of the magic Krys had given her. The doorway had a large picture on the front but the pieces are jumbled. It took Jayde about an hour to recreate the picture on the ground with a stick, unjumbled that is, because both brothers were trying to give advice as to what it could be, and interrupting her constantly. Eventually when Jayde had unscrambled it, she could see that the picture showed a key inside a fake boulder next to the door and a piece of slab that moved away to reveal the keyhole. Jayde retrieved the key from the boulder, which opened like a trunk. That was considerably easy because she both brothers were sitting against a tree, arguing about the relative merits of magic rings, and therefore were not interrupting her. The keyhole was another matter. There was no problem with interruptions, rather there was a physical barrier. Jayde had to borrow a dagger from Darius and with alot of work and alot of time, she managed to force it open. Inserting the key, she opened the door. There were scratchmarks on the other side and the bleached white skeleton of a minotaur, long dead and the bones picked clean of any meat.   
"There was an obvious flaw in that plan." Jayde said. "Sure, A minotaur is a good guardian but you really need to feed it once in a while. I'd say the bats and other monsters are dead too."  
"Looks like we're facing the labyrinth." Said Mozenrath. "I'll provide the light but watch your step. A place this old will be riddled with pits and that guy, Galeb, mentioned traps."  
The place lit up with a flash from Mozenrath's hand and a ball of orange light hovered above the trio. Jayde took a step forward and surveyed the area.  
"Uh... seems okay." Jayde muttered. "No big holes around here."  
"Which way do we go?" Asked Darius, as if he expected Jayde to know. "There are three tunnels."  
Jayde shut her eyes and concentrated. A minute or two passed before Mozenrath interrupted.  
"Jayde... what are you doing?"  
"Nothing." Jayde replied. "Just resting my eyes. Here, we should go through this tunnel. It slopes down further than the others."  
With those words, the party commenced. Jayde went first, then Mozenrath, with Darius following close behind and the orange ball of light even further back, sharing just enough light for Jayde to see by.  
The tunnel went deeper and deeper, and the air had a mouldy, musty feel to it. Almost like someone had died in there. Well, someone had died. Millions of bats, a few monsters and one minotaur, to be exact. The cave got colder and damp and Jayde shivered.  
"I should have brought a cloak." She said, her voice seemingly muffled by the darkness. "It's a little bit cold."  
Mozenrath didn't get the hint, and he drew his cloak tighter around his thin frame.  
"Yeah, It is pretty cold." He said. "But I don't know where the dampness is coming from. I can't hear any water."  
"It comes from being underground, Moze." Said Darius, dryly.  
They continued in silence, the passage snaking all over the mountain. Sometimes now, the tunnel sloped up, but mostly it went down, and fairly steeply.  
It was all ramp and no stairs, so Jayde's legs were beginning to ache.  
Just as they though they could go no further, the tunnel sloped further upwards and opened out into a small chamber, an eerie red glow filling it.  
"Wow..." Jayde gasped. The ceiling was covered in crystals, and even the first Princess of Agrabah couldn't hide her awe. Galeb had been right, there was a pedestal in the middle with two gems.  
Darius was about to take a step forward when Mozenrath stopped him  
"Wait." He said. "Galeb said something about solving puzzles. We can't have bypassed them all."  
"You're right." Jayde said. "Close your eyes everyone so that you don't have to believe what you see."  
They did this, and Jayde muttered a few magic words to lift any illusions. Upon opening their eyes, the trio was shocked. Most of the room had dissappeared. The rest was a pit, yes, filled with spears, with a small ledge around it.  
Jayde sighed. "We've got a while longer to go..."  
The three carefully and in single file, walked over the ledge. They tried not to look down, but Darius did and what he saw was not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless, he swallowed and trudged on.  
The tunnel sloped down, with tunnels branching off as they passed. Mozenrath glanced down them, hoping to find magical artifacts he could pilfer. Down one he saw a thousand skeletal warriors waiting to be awoken by their true king, down another, piles of gold, another held only a tarnished old lamp on a pavillion of gold. Mozenrath had a good idea of what was in the lamp, and he made a note to come back to all of these places some day.  
Suddenly, the cave came to an abrupt hault. It was a dead end.  
Jayde cursed at the wall. She was sure they could keep going if they could only get to the other side. She tried a digging spell, but the wall engulfed it. She tried various magical passwords, both Mozenrath and Darius lending their knowledge of passwords.  
Frustrated, Jayde kicked the wall... and her foot went right through it. it was another illusion.  
"Okay guys." Said Jayde. "Follow me."  
Jayde strode through the wall and everthing went black. She kept going and the world cleared. She was in the passage on the other side. Jayde saw her digging spell digging it's way into the wall and she called it back. Then she remembered the magical passwords. Doors that should have been left shut were opening up all over the passage.  
Mozenrath and Darius chose that specific moment to move through the wall and bump into her.  
"What's the old up?" Mozenrath asked.  
"Shhh..." Jayde whispered. "Back we go..."  
Jayde pushed the two back through the wall and hoped fervently that the monsters didn't know about it.  
The group sat down a good distance away from the end of the passage and Jayde explained what had happened.  
"Overall." She said. "It should take them about a day to either kill each other, or get everything sorted out and go back to sleep."  
"So we have to wait." Said Mozenrath.  
"Yup." Said Jayde. "I suggest we use the time to sleep. We should be quite safe here."  
"But what about the monsters?" Asked Darius.  
"Do you see them crashing through the wall?" Asked Jayde. "They don't know about it."  
"They could find out." Darius persisted.  
"So you stay up an guard." said Jayde. "If it'll make you feel better."  
Darius stopped complaining and Jayde did what she could with the area, japping a few cushions.  
Jayde settled down and went to sleep, Mozenrath not far behind her. Darius remaned vigilant for a while but sleep eventually got the best of him.  
All three awoke at the same time, and they had a short conversation on what should be done next.  
"Alright... I think we've had enough time waiting here." Said Mozenrath. "Whatever monsters are left, we should be able to take out."  
"Oh yeah?" Asked Jayde. "And what if there's a thirdak?" Jayde had heard about some of Mozenrath's adventures from her sister Jasmine, through correspondance while she was away.  
It was at this point that Darius decided to give his input. "Why doesn't one of us go check?"  
"A covert operation?" Jayde was enticed by the idea. "It sounds like it might work."  
"I don't think we should split up." Said Mozenrath. "One of us, alone, is a lot weaker than all three."  
"Except for one of us..." Said Darius.  
"I'll go." Volunteered Jayde. "There's nothing that could hurt me, I'm sure."  
Mozenrath was not happy with this arrangement. "But what if you got hurt?"  
"But what if all of us got hurt." Jayde countered. "It's better this way. You're not afraid... are you Mozenrath?"  
"Well, yeah!" Said Mozenrath. "Afraid for you."  
"You needn't be." Darius said. "There's practically no chance anything will happen."  
"Oh, so now we're saying will instead of could." Said Mozenrath. "Then I guess it's already decided."  
They argued some more, Mozenrath eventually giving in. Jayde vapourized the cushions from underneath them and stood up.  
"You guys are gonna have to be on your toes in case there's an emergency." She said. "So no relaxing."  
Darius made a sound of contempt. "There won't be an emergency."  
"Don't jinx it." Hissed Mozenrath.  
The bickering continued until finally Jayde put her foot down.  
"Okay, I'm going now." She said, hiding her fear and walking through the wall.  
The world went black again, and Jayde felt a tingling, a cold mist wrapping around her. It was almost suffocating but suddenly Jayde felt like she couldn't move. Her limbs felt heavy and she just felt like going to sleep. Her mind was slugginsh, but on last throught course through her brain. Something was wrong. Jayde struggled forward and everthing cleared. There were no monsters on the other side but Jayde was afraid to go back through the door. Obviously you weren't supposed to travel through it more than once. Jayde considered teleporting, but that was too risky. She didn't want to end up waist deep in solid rock. There was nothing left to do but to wait, and hope that the others would follow.  
Instead of staying there, Jayde wandered further down the passage to check the doors. They were all closed and would not open again until the magic passwords were said once more. Jayde wandered back up the passage, she didn't want to get lost without the others.  
An hour passed and Jayde heard a noise from the wall.  
"Ah! What's going on? I can't move."  
Jayde decided to risk it and she reached an arm into the wall and pulled. Out came Mozenrath, who was gripping Darius's arm tightly. Together, they pulled, and Darius popped through the wall.  
"We ahh... got stuck." Mozenrath said, and looked inquiringly at Jayde.  
"I have no idea." Said Jayde. "It did the same to me. That's why I didn't return."  
"You couldn't call out?" Darius asked. "Why did you make us wait an hour?"  
Jayde explained. "I know these illusions. You can hear what's inside the wall, but not what's on the other side."  
The trio dusted themselves off, and continued down the passage together.  
After more endless passages and chambers filled with skeletons, and even a wraith, the three reached a second large chamber. Jayde tried to lift the illusion again, but the scene stayed the same.  
Once again, the ceiling was covered with crystals, but these looked dull, like they had been there a long time. This was not an illusion. There was a pedestal in the middle of the room and two gems lay on it, greyish in colour.  
"So let's grab the real on." Darius said, and he strode forward. jayde stopped him.  
"Which is the real one?" She asked. Darius didn't know the answer. Mozenrath through for a moment, and then reminded Jayde about the necklace he had given her.  
"Necklace? What about the necklace?" Jayde asked. "Oh... magical aura! That'll work."  
Jayde dug the necklace our of the pocket and slipped it over her head. There was a faint red glow from the ceiling and a faint red glow from the gems. There was no way, however, to discern which gem was the right one. The glow from the ceiling disturbed Jayde, so she motioned the others to stand back, and she sent a ball of light to hover near the pedestal. As she had expected, the entire ceiling of crystals came crashing down, they would have skewered the trio.  
Jayde looked at Mozenrath and Darius.  
"This pendant alone will not help us." She said. "But I think I know another way."  
Jayde plucked a hair from Mozenrath's scalp, "Ouch!", and another from Darius's, "Ouch!"  
She twisted them together in a complicated knot and muttered a magic spell.  
"A brother spell." Jayde explained. Now the crystal on the left was glowing black, and the one on the right was glowing white. Jayde strode forward and picked up the white one. Nothing happened. 


	14. Chapter 14

After about thirty seconds the gem started to glow a yellow-ish colour. It was the right one. Jayde turned around, the strands of Mozenrath's and Darius's hair still in her stands. For a second, while she undid the knots, there was a flicker of black that streaked around Darius. Jayde dismissed it.  
She tossed the Brue crystal into the air and caught it.  
"Ok guys." She said. "We did it. We got the Brue crystal."  
"Now what?" Asked Darius.  
"Not sure." Mused Jayde. "I seem to have lost some driving urge inside of me as well. What do we do now?"  
Mozenrath gave a snort of contempt. "Amateurs." he said. "We take the Brue crystal back to Galeb."  
"Oh yeah..." Said Jayde. "My magic or yours?"  
"I'll do the honours." Replied Darius, and he held up a hand, creating a lime green portal.  
"But... you don't know where Agrabah is?" Said Jayde. "Do you?"  
"Nope. What's an Agrabah?" Asked Darius.  
"Let me get this straight...." Said Mozenrath. "You know about Princess Jasmine but you don't know where Agrabah is?"  
"Ohhhh.... that Agrabah." Darius let out another bolt of green light to finalise the portal.  
The trio walked through and found themselves outside the gates of Agrabah.  
"Is this where I meet the legendary Princess?" Asked Darius. "Is it? Is it?"  
"Yes, Darius." Said Mozenrath, bored. His boredom was not to last. The gates opened and as they entered Agrabah they noticed a change. The place was frozen. Not ice frozen, but time frozen.  
"Ahh.... there you are." Said Galeb. "The Lord and Lady Mozenrath."  
"Hello Galeb." Said Jayde, taking the dominant role instead of her husband again. "We have the crystal."  
"And your payment..." Chuckled Galeb. "Ah yes... you payment."  
Mozenrath and Jayde and Darius felt uneasy as Galeb continued to laugh.  
"Yes, your payment.... Will have to be split between three people now, I wager?"  
The three breathed a sigh of relief.  
"What?" Asked Galeb. "Did you think I was going to kill you?"  
Mozenrath was the first to react. "Yes...."  
"Ah, don't be silly." Said Galeb, handing them a bag of gold. "Now, the crystal, if you please."  
Jayde handed the crystal to Galeb, and he chuckled again before continuing.  
"Yes, don't be silly. I'm not going to kill you." He said. "I'm going to steal your souls."  
Galeb gripped the crystal and he transformed into someone Jayde recognised. She had known him from before she left, yes, and Jasmine's correspondance had given her quite an update on his exploits.  
"But... but... you're dead." She stuttered. "They killed you."  
"Hah! Killed me? The most powerful genie in the world? If you change the name Galeb around... what do you get?"  
"Uh... Belag?" Said Darius.  
"Oh, okay. So there's no signifigance in the name but hah! I lived! They freed me, and do you know what the best part is? Now I can get my revenge."  
"You... you can't" Jayde said. "I won't let you."  
"Oh, why not, little Princess? I taught you all you know. Now that I have the right body, untainted, I have my powers back... not the genie ones... but I have my intial sorceror powers..."  
"Wait a second..." Said Mozenrath. "Just who are you?"  
Jayde cast her eyes down, she was scared. "He's Jafar." Jafar seemed to radiate fear to everyone apart from Mozernath. He made them forget about their own powers.  
"Huh? Never heard of him." Replied Mozenrath. "Is he strong?"  
"Am I strong? Am I strong!" Jafar roared with laughter. "Boy, ther only one I ever feared was the greatest sorceror ever... Destane!"  
"Oh... him?" Mozenrath acted nonchalant. "I turned him into a mamluk."  
"What?" Jafar's eyes darted around him. Jayde suddenly felt a whole lot better, knowing that she had strong sorcerors on her side, no matter how much stronger she was than Jafar now.  
"Heh... there's a new generation of sorcerors now, Jafar, old buddy." Said Jayde, her face lighting up. "And sorceress."  
Mozenrath and Darius stepped forward, so that they were beside Jayde. All three held out their hands.  
"Seeya later, alligator." Said Jayde as they blasted Jafar-Galeb into oblivion.  
The Brue crystal seemed to float for a moment, before gravity remembered it's existance and it clattered to the ground, making a small crater in the dust. The city unfroze now, and noise could be heard all around them. Jayde hurriedly picked up the crystal before someone took it.  
"Well that was alarming." She said. "Let's get to the palace?"  
"Okay." Said Mozenrath. "Here Darius, you have the bag of gold."  
Mozenrath handed the small sack to Darius.  
"Awww... I wanted more of a reward than that." Whined Darius.  
"Ah, shaddup." Said Jayde. You get more than I do. I didn't even get his power... 'n just because he classifies as a dead guy."  
The three hurried off to the palace, still bickering.   
  
Darius was eager to meet the famous Princess Jasmine, but she was nowhere to be found. The Sultan was sitting in his throne room as usual, attended by servants and listening to the people of Agrabah's pleas. He jumped up when he saw Mozenrath and Jayde.  
"Oh oh oh, It's the newlyweds!" He cried. Most of the crowd could see this would be embarrasing, so they left quickly. Only a few servants were left, picking up the peeled grapes the Sultan had disturbed in his excitement. "How was your honeymoon?"  
Jayde looked bewildered. "I wouldn't call it a honeymoon."  
"Nonsense, you two didn't have a honeymoon after your wedding, this was your honeymoon."  
"Oh... okay." Jayde was easily persuaded. "Our honeymoon was delightful, although there are some serious matters that need to be addressed later."  
The Sultan's joviality immediately dissapeared. "Ah yes, the freezing thing. Yes, we already know what caused that."  
Darius and Mozenrath were hanging back while Jayde held conference with her father, but, catching there words, Mozenrath couldn't resist asking. "How? You knew you were frozen?"  
The Sulatan's eyes twinkled. "You can't freeze a Genie."  
"A spy." Jayde said, but not as a question. "Papa, you didn't even take action?"  
"I couldn't very well." Said the Sultan. "I was frozen. I only just recieved all the informantion."  
"Well I think Jafar is taken care of now." Said Mozenerath. "And he was such a menace to your city, I am told?"  
"Jafar wasn't the most powerful in the world..." Said Jayde. "Only in the kingdom."  
"And you were away, thus leaving your city vulnerable."  
"I didn't know that Jafar was going to be turning evil, now did I?" Argued Jayde.  
"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Queoted Mozenrath. "And he had it pretty absolute around here."  
Jayde snorted. "Probably why you were so evil when before I met you, why didn't you come get him then."  
"I had problems of my own." Said Mozenrath. "That and I hadn't heard of him."  
"What problems?" Sneered Jayde. "Was it your little master slash enslaver, Desdane?"  
"No more." Said Mozenrath. "Thankyou, Sultan. it is nice to see you safe."  
Mozenrath bowed to the Sultan and strode out of the room, his cape billowing out behind him.  
There was silence for a few seconds, before Jayde's yelling broke it. "See if I CARE!" She yelled down the corridor. "Because I don't!"  
Darius was looking very nervous at this time. The poor mini-sorceror was sweating and looked quite pale, although there was obviously some genetic paleness around him all the time.  
"Oh, um..." Jayde started. "Papa, this is... HIS brother. He was a great help to us on our... my journey, and I have gifted him the bounty of a meeting with my sister."  
Darius attempted an awkward bow, since he was already making himself as small as possible. "If it please, your majesty, I should like to stay for a while at the palace as well.  
"Well certainly." Said the Sultan, giving Darius a knowing look. "You want to meet Jasmine, do you? Well, she's away at the moment. We expect her back at any time though."  
This information gave Jayde a start. "What? She's nicked off again?"  
"Oh, no no no." Replied the Sultan. "Just having a little time off."  
Jayde was both mentally and physically exhausted. "Papa, do you mind if I stay here for a while till I... we get things sorted out."  
"A lovers tiff." Said the Sultan. "Why, certainly, your chambers are always open to you."  
"Thankyou Papa."  
"Although I don't know why you two still insist in staying in that stuffy old citadel when you're home. You could quite easily-"  
The Sultan was cut off by Jayde. "Thankyou Papa, I will just show Darius to his rooms?"  
"Yes dear, I'll notify the guards that we have a guest."  
Jayde took Darius's arm and led him away.   
  
Corridor after corridor, the palace was a large dwelling. Two sets of footsteps echoed, but barely made an impact. The immence size of the palace seemed to act as a silencer.  
"I am sorry you had to see that." Said Jayde. "I don't know what's gotten into Mozenrath."  
"Don't forget, he is my brother." Replied Darius. "He has a thing about bottling up emotions."  
"I... I think I have some problems like that too."  
"And he's stubborn."  
"Yes."  
"And annoying."  
Tears welled in Jayde's eyes as they approached a new set of rooms.  
"Here is your room." Said Jayde, opening a door. "If you need anything, live with it."  
Jayde turned and ran down the corridor, taking turn after turn before entering her own overfurnished room. She flopped down on the bed and cried into the pillow. 


	15. Chapter 15

Jayde's heart ached. It had been five days and she hadn't seen Mozenrath or Jasmine. Her head was filled with worry. No so much for her lover and husband, but for her sister. Last time, Jasmine had been lucky. A kindly street rat was not something that happened twice. Good guys were very scarce these days. Who knew what Jasmine could be going through? Jayde didn't. Jayde had tried her crystals but she could find nothing. Meant that... Jayde didn't know what it meant. She tried to force these thoughts out of her head but they were only replaced by thoughts of Mozenrath. She felt terrible for what she had said to him. She didn't know much about Desdane or Mozenrath's past, but she knew enough to understand that Desdane was not a nice guy. PMS could come at such inconveniant times, and Jayde's body had picked the worst time to make her cranky. Jayde was worried about making the first move when making up with Mozenrath, what if he turned her away? Darius was seeming to be a permanent house guest, and the same could be said for Jayde. She couldn't believe it, but she was beginning to miss the place where she had spent her first meeting with Mozenrath. Apart from the horrible black sand and dank citadel, it had Mozenrath. Everything had gone so fast. It always did for Jayde. Went really fast right up until Jayde said something wrong or did something wrong and then everything went haywire. Every time... she remembered the Balinese king... the Malaysian peasant... the Singaporean merchant, she had spent alot of time in that area, Jayde noted. It always seemed to be Jayde's fault. They just didn't seem to understand that although she joked, she was serious about the relationship. She had tried a bundle of times to think before speaking, but it only took one time per relationship.  
That evening, Jayde decided to go for a walk through the marketplace. It was hot and she enjoyed bartering with the locals. They didn't recognize her most of the time, and she gave them a false name. it was really fun that way.  
"Apples, I got apples! Fish, fresh fish! Bread, finest bread in town! Rice, Who wants rice? Vegetables, get your vegetables!" The sounds of the market crowded Jayde's ears. "Jewelry! Pretty jewelry for a pretty lady such as yourself!"  
A familiar voice replied. "Oh.... no, really, I have enough jewelry."  
Jayde turned slowly. Jasmine was trying to let the jeweller down gently. "But... It's nice jewelry, really."  
All in one sudden burst, Jayde grabbed Jasmine's wrist and started dragging her away. Jasmine frantically finished her conversation before the jeweller was out of hearing range. "But maybe I'll come back and buy some later!"  
Jayde pushed Jasmine in front of her, and forced her into an alley. She stared angrily at Jasmine.  
"What do you mean by running off like that?" "Like what? I went for a holiday."  
"Holiday, my..." Jayde stopped. "Oh, this is because of me, isn't it."  
"Don't be silly." Said Jasmine. "I needed a break. Aladdin and I had a... yes. I needed a break."  
"You're avoiding the real answer." Said Jayde. "You and Aladdin had that fight because of me."  
"Well, yes." Said Jasmine. "But I left because I felt like it. I'm not the defenceless little princess that I was before you left, you know."  
Suddenly, Jasmines explanations were cut off. Jayde hugged her with all her strength.  
"You're safe, not dead in a ditch!" Jayde said. "I'm so relieved."  
"Gah, lungs." Said Jasmine, and Jayde released her. "Don't do that. It's not digified."  
"Dignified-shmignified." Replied Jayde.  
"You're going to be a Sultana, sooner or later." Said Jasmine, making a small prayer to Allah that it would be the latter. "You have spent most of your life consorting with gypsies and sorcerers. You need a lesson in deportment."  
"Pshaw, you need a lesson in not making your sister worry her head off."  
"Worry?" Asked Jasmine. "I made you worry? I would have thought you would be more busy with your new husband."  
"So would I." Said Jayde. Her and Jasmine had left the alley now, and were walking back to the palace. "But... it is not so."  
"Whyever not?" Asked Jasmine. "Has something happened to him?"  
"We had a fight." Said Jayde.  
"I'm sorry." Replied Jasmine. "I am certain you will make amends... this time."  
"I have some interesting news for you, though." Said Jayde, ignoring Jasmine's comment. "On our most recent journey, we met up with Mozenrath's brother, Darius."  
"Mozenrath has a brother?"  
"Mm-hm. And he helped us defeat Jafar who had taken over Agrabah." Said Jayde.  
"Jafar took over Agrabah? Where is Papa?" Jasmine looked frantic. "Oh, I should not have left Papa alone."  
"Safe in the palace." Said Jayde. " Papa is safe in the palace. I saved the day, as usual... after I shook off that depression spell."  
"On the contrary, you haven't been here to save anything for a long time." Said Jasmine.  
"You're getting off track." Said Jayde and she was getting annoyed by Jasmine's cutting remarks. "Anyway, Mozenrath's brother has heard alot about you and asked me if I could arrange a meeting."  
"This... Darius, he wants to meet me." Said Jasmine, in more of a statement than a question. "Well, I guess it is diplomacy, considering who his brother is."  
"Yes, so I though you could sign a few portraits and shake his hand and the like."  
"That won't be a problem." Jasmine accepted, as they neared the palace gates. "You know I like mingling with the lessers."  
"Good." Said Jayde, her mood considerably lifted at the discovery of her sister, safe and sound in the markets, even though she was being uncommonly rude. "Papa will be pleased to know you're safe."  
They entered the palace, and Rasoul bowed the the Princesses before hurrying away to inform the Sultan of their arrival.  
"I think you had better go see Papa." Said Jayde. "Have a rest afterwards. You must be exhausted."  
"Thankyou." Said Jasmine. "Your thoughtfulness is welcome."  
"You should clean up first, though." Said Jayde. "You reek, and Papa would not be so pleased to know his baby daughter has been drinking."  
"Oh..." Jasmine looked down." Don't you tell him."  
"I won't, but be sure to gargle or noone will need to be told." Said Jayde, smiling victoriously. "I have some business to attend to before I join you two for dinner."  
The sisters parted, and it was then that a rift was created between them. Jasmine had changed, even moreso after her little holiday, but even before that, in the time Jayde had been away travelling, Jasmine had grown more independant, discourteous, critical and rebellious. Those many adventures had taken it's toll on the Princess, gradually wearing away her refinement. Although Jayde had travelled with gypsies, she had also spent much time with royalty, and had married a lord, not some common street rat. Jayde was slightly irritated by her sister's unusual attitude, and so she retired to her rooms to think about it.  
There wasn't much to think about, really. The little sister she had known had grown into the adventurer she didn't know. Jayde wondered about Jasmine's chosen partner. Aladdin, she decided, was a product of free thinking and an absence of class barriers. She disliked Aladdin, couldn't abide him. A street rat... a street rat... a street rat. The word diamond permeated the depths of Jayde's mind, but she chose to ignore this. Aladdin was a... a... hero. Of course, these were needed to keep the Kingdom running smoothly, but that didn't mean you had to be grateful, it didn't mean you had to fall in lo... lust with one of them. For a start, heroes didn't know love. They endeared themselves to pretty young ladies in distress... often the gave them distress. It was that which disgusted her. By being with a heo, Jasmine was automatically placing herself on the hero created, innocently lower platform marked 'Woman". She wouldn't object, either. It wasn't the heroic way. The position meant no harm, but whilst Jasmine got her occasional bout of independance and glory, she would always be second to the hero, in well-meaning heroic terms. Aladdin seemed well-mannered enough, but Jayde had seen enough of them to know that this "scrubbing up" could only be temporary. The hero always came out in the blood. Naturally foe to a hero through no fault of her own, naturally foe to almost anyone who knew their stuff, Jayde could only automatically distrust Aladdin, and so she did.  
At least the city wasn't going to be ruled by a classless hero. That could lead to revolution, a dodgy prospect to Jayde, as it is to most monarchs. Jayde felt somewhat proud of her business deal with Mozenrath. She had the power back that she couldn't have achieved as a single... woman. Blasted heroes, that was probably their fault too. She have to change him, though. He had to be presentable to the people. No one like a Sultan who would run off in a sulk at the slightest mention of an old master. Jayde didn't feel so terrible now. Previous regrets must have been a product of worry for Jasmine. Now, contempt towards Jasmine controlled her emotions. It certaily felt better then worry. This little fight could last longer than Jayde expected... but at the moment, she didn't give one ounce of fecal matter. Jayde had other things to do. 


End file.
